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'.i'
r\.i '■ ";' ■"*"r
A SHOET
HISTORY OF IRELAND
FBOM THE EABLIEST TIMES TO 1608
BT
P. W. JOYCE, LL.D., T.C.D., M.R.I.A.
ONX or THK COUMISSIONSas FOR THK PI7BLICATI0N OF THE ANCIZMT UiMB 09
IBELAND : AUTHOK OF 'A. SOCIAL HISTORY OF AKCIENT IRELAHS'
•lUISH NAMES OF PLACES' 'OLD CELTIC ROMANCES '
AND OTHER WORKS BELATINa TO ntET.AHn
WITH A MAP
NEW IMPRESSION
LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO.
39" PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA
1911
AVI r'.iohti reterved
^
PEEFAOE
XT ^^^
■^> • - .
^In a short Preface I wish to draw attention to some special
features of this book.
Most readers will perceive that the mode of treating
the subject is somewhat new. The chapters forming
Part I., on the literature, art, and institutions of ancient
Ireland, will, I hope, prove useful ; and perhaps they may
be found interesting. They do not pretend to be deep or
exhaustive ; but, while setting them forth in language as
> simple, clear, and readable as I could command, I have
f tried to make them comprehensive so far as the limits
i allowed, and thoroughly accurate.
In five short chapters is given a popular exposition of
a subject not easy to deal with — the Brehon Laws. The
^~ interpretation of these laws is ofben so difficult, and leaves
>* so much room for differences of opinion, that I have been
at unusual pains to give references. The vexed question
'^f land tenure has lately aroused very lively interest, and
^V; perhaps the public may be pleased to have an explanation
^ of the main features of the ancient Irish land laws.
I have generally followed the plan of weaving the
t- history round important events and leading personages.
" This method, while sometimes necessitating a slight
1
i
iv PREFACE
departure from the strict order of time, has enabled me to
divide the whole book into short chapters, each forming a
distinct narrative more or less complete in itself; and it
has aided me in my endeavours to infuse some life and
human interest into the story.
Original documents have been, all through, consulted ;
nothing has been accepted on second-hand evidence ; and
great care has been taken to give references or quotations
for all statements that might give rise to doubt or
question.
I have, I hope, written soberly and moderately, avoid-
ing exaggeration and bitterness, and showing fair play all
round. A writer may accomplish all this while sympa-
thising heartily, as I do, with Ireland and her people.
In the beginning of the reign of James I. the Brehon
Law and the Irish land customs were abolished, and
Ireland ceased to be governed by native institutions. This,
therefore, seems a convenient and proper place to make a
pause. The first part of my task ends here : in another
volume, which will appear, I hope, in the near future, the
narrative will be brought down to the present day.
I am deeply indebted to Mr. Marlow WooUett for
reading the proof-sheets, and for giving me, all along, the
benefit of his great information and sound judgment. I
have to thank Messrs. George Philip & Son for the uae of
the map, and Messrs. Alex. Thorn & Co. for permission to
use the Celtic design on the cover.
P. W. J.
Lyeb-na-Gbena, Leinstbb Boad^
Rathmines, Dublin: ,
July 1893.
CONTENTS
lOl
PART I
THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS OF THE
ANCIENT miSH
CHAFTXB txa*
L The Ibish Language 1
II. Ibish Litebatubb 10
III. Ecclesiastical and Religious Wbitings . . 18
IV. Annals, Histoeies, Genealogies 26
y. HiSTOBICAL AND BOMANTIC TALES .... 34
Vl. The Bbehon Law 39
VII. The Laws of Compensation and Distbess . . 47
VIII. Gbadbs and Gboups of Society 55
IX. The Laws belating to Land 66
X. Fostebage: Public Assemblies: Sanctuabies . . 85
XI. Music 93
XII. Abt 103
XIII. Dwellings, Fobtbesses, Ecclesiastical Buildings 108
XIV. Vaeious Customs 114
PART n
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
I. The Legends of the Eablt Colonies . , • 123
II. The Kings of Pagan Ibeland . . , , . 128
III. Saint Patrick 137
>:
*■
VI HISTOEY OF IRELAND
CBAFTEB rAOl
IV. Eablt Christian Ibbland . . , , . 160
V. Education and Schools ...•*. 166
71. Bblioion and Leabnino ...... 162
YU. Thb Danish Wabs ..••«., 189
VIII. Bbian Bobu ......,,, 200
IX. The Battle of Glontabf ...... 210
X. Fbepabinq the Wat fob the Invadbb . . . 228
PART ni
THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION
L Debmot Mac Mubbooh 246
II. The Fibst Anolo-Nobman Adventubebs . , , 261
III. Stbongbow . . 265
IV. King Henby in Ibeland , 261
V. Raymond le Gbos ...... 266
VI. John db Coxtbcy . 270
VII. Hugh dh Laox (the Eldbb) : Pbincb John . . 277
VIII. Cahal of the Red Hand, King of Connaught . 281
IX. King John in Ibbland 286
X. A Cbntubt of Tubmoil 289
XI. Edwabd Bbuce 300
XII. Fusion of Races: the Statute of Kilkenny . . 308
XIII. Abt Mac MxmBooH Kavanagh . . . . .323
XIV. How Ibbland fabed dubinq thb Fbbnoh Wabs
AND THE Wabs of the Roses 333
XV. PoTNiNGS' Law 344
XVI. GABBETT FlTZGBBAIiD THE GBBAT EABL OF KlLDABE 351
XVII. Gabbbtt Ogb Fitzgebald, Ninth Eael of Kildabe 356
XVIII. The Rebellion of Silken Thomas . . . . 367
XIX. General Submission 377
CONTElin?S vu
PART IV
THE PEBIOD OF INSURRECnON, CONFISCATION, AND
PLANTATION
OIUPTKB FAOl
L New Caxtsbs of Steipb ....... 890
IL Mutations op the State Beligion . . , .894
III. Shane CNbill 399
17. The Gbealdinb Rebellion: Fibst Stagb , . 420
V. The Plantations ........ 434
YL The Gebaldine Rebellion: Second Stagb . . 446
VIL The Fibst Plantation op Munstee , , . . 460
VIII. Hugh Rob O'Donnell ....... 466
IX. Hugh O'Neill, Eabl op Tybonb 472
X. The Rebellion of Hugh O'Neill, Eabl of Itbonk 482
XL The Battle op the Yellow Foed . ... 492
Xn. The Eabl of Essex 499
XIII. LOBD MOUNTJOY AND SiB GEOBGE CABEW . , . 507
XIY. Thb Siege and Battle of Einsalb » . . 621
XV. The Siege of Dunboy 628
XVI. The Retbeat of O'Sullivan Beabb . . .633
XVIL Thb Flight of thb Eabi^ . . » . . . 638
INDEX 649
MkP OF IRELAND
lb face page 1
77T^r^-f ^^^'^ "•^^■yfrc*^^:7r^'^f^^ . ,-j-. ■ . -.j ■ ""*'':. ' ■'■•:^l^
A
SHOUT HISTORT OF lEELAND
PART I
THE MANNEB8, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS OF
THE ANCIENT IBISH
In writing the history of a country it is desirable to
begin with some account of the early inhabitants and their
modes of life. The following chapters, forming the first
Part of this book, have been written with the object of
giving, in a popular form, some trustworthy information
on the institutions, literature, laws, and customs of the
ancient Irish people.
CHAPTER I
THE IRISH LANGUAGE
[Chief Authorities : — Zeuss's Grancm. Celt., Preface ; ODonovan's Article
on Zeuss in Qlst. Joum. of Archaeol. ii. 11 ; O'Donovan's Irish Gram. ;
O'Corry's Lect. on MS. Mat. of Irish Hist. ; Stokes's Cormac'ii
Glossary and Three Irish Glosses; Atkinson's Lect. on Irish
Metric ; Ferguson's Ogham Inscr. in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland ;
Most Rev. Dr. Graves's Papers on Ogham in Hermathena ; Brash a
Ogham Monuments ; Rhys's Lectures on Welsh Philology.]
Dialects of Celtic. There are two main branches of
the ancient Celtic language: — The Goidelie, or Gaelic,
or Irish; and the British; corresponding with the two
main divisions of the Celtic people of the British Islands.
8 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Paht L
Each of these has branched into three dialects. Those of
Gaelic are : — The Irish proper ; the Gaelic of Scotland,
differing only slightly from Irish ; and the Manx. The
dialects of British are : — Welsh ; Cornish ; and Breton or
Armoric. The dialects of British differ more than those of
Goidelic. Of the whole six dialects, five are still spoken ;
the Cornish became extinct in the 18th century ; and Manx
is nearly extinct. Four have an ancient written litera-
ture : — Irish, Welsh, Cornish, and Armorio. The Gaelic of
Scotland has no ancient literature distinct from that of
li-eland ; but it has a modem literature.
Olosses. We shall see in another place that in the
early ages of Christianity teachers and professors from
Ireland were found in most of the universities and
schools of the Continent. Among the learners that
gathered round them were many young men who followed
them from Ireland, and were instructed by them in the
classical languages as well as in other branches of learn-
ing. When transcribing or using the classics or the Latin
version of the Scriptures, these teachers, in order to aid the
Irish learners, or for their own convenience, often wrote,
between the lines or in the margin, literal Irish transla-
tions of the most difficult words of the text, or general
renderings of the sense into Gaelic phrases. These are
what are called Glosses. Numbers of those interesting
manuscripts, their pages all crowded with glosses, are
preserved to this day in many continental libraries ; and
in them are found older forms of Irish than any we have
in Ireland. Many have been recently published, with the
Latin passages and the corresponding Gaelic. Similar
glosses in Welsh, Breton, and Cornish, are also found ;
but I am concerned here with Irish only, It is chiefly by
means of these glosses that the ancient grammatical forms
of the language have been recovered, and the meanings of
innumerable Irish words, long obsolete, have been ascer-
tained from their Latin equivalents.
Zeuss: The 'Orammatica Celtica.' The first to make
extensive use of the glosses for these purposes was Johaiin
Kaspar Zeuss, a Bavarian; bom 1806; died 1856. He
CftAP. I. THE IRISH LANGUAGE t
had a great talent for languages, and began the stady
of the Celtic dialects about 1840. Thenceforward he
laboured incessantly, visiting the libraries of Saint Gall,
Wurzburg, Milan, Carlsruhe, Cambrai, and several other
cities, in all of which there are manuscript books with
glosses, in the Celtic dialects ; and he copied everything
that suited his purpose. He found the Irish glosses by
far the most ancient, extensive, and important of all.
Most of them belonged to the eighth century ; some few
to the beginning of the ninth. At the end of thirteen
years he produced the great work of his life, ' Grammatica
Celtica,' a complete grammar of the four ancient Celtic
dialects : published 1853. It is a closely printed book of
over 1000 pages, and it is all written in Latin, except of
course the Celtic examples and quotations. Each of the
four dialects is treated of separately. In this work he
proved that the Celtic people of the British Islands are
the same with the Celtas of the Continent ; and that Celtic
is one of the branches of the Aryan or Indo-European lan-
guages, abreast with Latin, Greek, the Teutonic languages,
Sanscrit, &c.
Zeuss was the founder of Celtic philology. The ' Gram-
matica Celtica ' was a revelation to scholars wholly un-
expected, and it gave an impetus to the study, which has
been rather increasing than diminishing since his time.
He made it plain that a knowledge of the Celtic languages
is necessary in order to unravel the early history of the
peoples of Western Europe. It is now quite a common
thing to find scholars from continental countries visiting
and residing for a time in Ireland to learn the Irish
language. Since the time of Zeuss many scholarly works
have been written on Celtic philology : but the ' Gram-
matica Celtica ' still stands at the head of all.
Three Divisions of Irish. It is usual to divide Irish, as
we find it written, into three stages. I. Old Irish, from
the eighth to the twelfth century. This is the language of
the glosses, of the Irish found in the Book of Armagh, and
of some few passages in the Book of the Dun Cow; but
we have very little old Irish preserved in Ireland. The
B 9
4 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part L
classical age of the Irish language was from the eighth to
the beginning of the twelfth century. After the Anglo-
Nortnan invasion, the native language, like the native arts,
degenerated ; and it gradually lost its pure grammatical
forms and its classical precision and simplicity. II. Middle
Irish, from the twelfth to the fifteenth century, marked by
many departures from the pure Old Irish forms. This is
the language of most of our important manuscripts — de-
scribed in next chapter — such as the Book of the Dun Cow,
the Book of Leinster, the Lebar Brecc, and the Book of
Ballymote. III. Modem Irish, from the fifteenth century
to the present day. This is the language of most of the
Ossianic tales. The purest specimens are the writings of
Keating, mentioned in Chapters III. and IV. There is a
vast amount of manuscript literature in Modem Irish.
In the long lapse of 1200 years — from the eighth to
the twentieth century — the Irish, like all other languages,
has undergone great changes. Between the written Irish
of the present day and the Middle Irish of the Book of
Leinster there is at least as much difference as between
Modem English and the language of Chaucer; and Old
Irish is much farther removed. To a person who knows
Modern Irish only it is quite as difficult to master Middle
and Old Irish as to master a new language.
Ancient Glossaries and Grammars. In consequence of
the gradual change of the Irish language — old words
dropping out, new ones coming in, and many changing
their forms — it became customary for scholars of past
times, skilled in the ancient language, to write glossaries
of obsolete words to aid students in reading very ancient
manuscripts. Many of these are preserved in the old
books. The most noted is ' Cormac's Glossary,' ascribed
to Archbishop Cormac Mac Cullendn, king of Cashel, who
died A.D. 908. It was translated and annotated by John
O'Donovan ; and this translation and the Irish text, with
valuable additional notes, have been published by Dr.
Whitley Stokes. Michael O'Clery, the chief of the Four
Masters, printed and published at Loavain, in 1643,
a Glossary ot ancient and difficult Irish words. Duald
Chap. L THE lEISH LANGUAGE »
Mac Firbis and his master O'Davoren compiled Glossaries
of the Brehon laws, which are still extant ; and there are
in Trinity College copies made by Mac Firbis of several
other glossaries.
There is a very ancient treatise on Irish Grammar,
divided into four books, ascribed severally to four learned
Irishmen. Of these the latest was Kennfaela the Learned,
who lived in the seventh century, and who is set down as
the author of the fourth book. Copies of this tract are
found in the Books of Ballymote and Lecan ; but it has
never been translated.
Irish Poetry and Prosody. In very early times not
only poetry proper, but histories, stories, laws, genealogies,
and. such like, were very often written in verse as an aid
to the memory. Among all peoples there were — as there
are still — certain laws or rules, commonly known as
prosody, which poets had to observe in the construction of
their verse. The classification and the laws of Irish versi-
fication were probably the most complicated that were ever
invented. The following statement will give the reader
an idea of this. There are in Irish three principal kinds
of verse. Of the first kind, which is called ' direct metre,'
there are five species, all equally complicated. The first
of these required the observance of the following rules :
(1) Each stanza to consist of four lines making complete
sense ; (2) In each line seven syllables ; (3)'Alliteration in
at least two principal words of each line ; (4) The lines to
rhyme, but the rhymes were generally assonances or vowel
rhymes ; (5) The last word of the second line to have one
syllable more than the last word of the first line ; a like
relation between the last words of the fourth and third
lines. Behind these were several minor observances that
made the matter still more puzzling. O'MoUoy, the earliest
of modem writers on Irish grammar, pronounces direct
metre ' the most difficult kind of verse under the sun.' It
was something like writing double acrostics in English.*
• See the Irish treatise on Irish Metre from the Book of Ballvniote,
translated and annotated by the Rev. B. McCarthy, D.D., in the Todd
Lectare Series, vol. iii. pp. 98-141.
6 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt L
That the old writers of verse were able to comply with
all these rules we have positive proof in our manuscripts :
and the result is marvellous. Atkinson in his lecture on
Irish metric (p. 4) says : — ' I believe Irish verse to have
been about the most perfectly harmonious combination of
sounds that the world has ever known. I know of nothing
in the world's literature like it.' So much the worse, for
everything had to be sacrificed to sound. Dr. Stokes*
declares : — ' In almost all the [ancient] Celtic poetry that
I have read, substance is ruthlessly sacrificed to form, and
the observance of the rigorous rules of metre seems re-
garded as an end in itself.' Even O'Curry obviously
viewed the Irish metric system with disfavour, for we find
him using the expression, * the very artificial system of the
(xaelic prosody.' ' Such perplexing restiictions were quite
enough to kill true poetry ; all the energies of the poet
were concentrated on the mechanical difficulties ; and his
praise was measured by his success in overcoming them,
rather than by any true interpretation of nature.
In modem Irish poetry the old prosodial rules ar»
almost wholly disregarded. The rhymes are assonanta) ;
but in other respects Irish verse now follows the metrical
construction of English verse.
If the Irish did not distinguish themselves in poetry as
eminently as in music and art, I attribute it to their
cumbrous and complicated rules of prosody. Yet not un-
frequently we find the strength of individual genius
breaking through all vexatious restrictions; and among
the ancient bardic remains — odes, ballads, elegies, songs,
&c. — are many pieces of great beauty, the products of true
poetical inspiration. It may be remarked that the old
Irish poets had a keen appreciation of the beauty of
external nature. Spenser, though a prejudiced witness as
regarded most things Irish, has I think, with his usual
clear poetical insight, pronounced a fair criticism of the
poetry of the Irish bards : — ' Yea, truly I have caused
divers of thorn to be translated unto me, that I might
' Calendar of A en ff lis, p. 17.
' Jjeat. <yn Mannert and Cvstomt, i. 167.
Chip. L THE IRISH LANGUAGE T
understand them, and surely they savoured of sweet wit
and good invention, but skilled not of the goodly orna-
mente of poetry [i.e. they wanted the qualities that consti-
tute great poetry]; yet were they sprinkled with some
pretty flowers of their naturall device, which gave good
grace and comelinesse unto them.* '
Of the Irish texts published, the following as well as
several minor pieces (all described in the following chapters)
are in verse: — The Feilire of Aengus; the Book of
Rights; a portion of the Tribes and Customs of Hy
Fiachrach ; and the topographical poems of O'Dugan and
O'Heeren. This last is an enumeration of the principal
tribes of Ireland at the time of the English invasion, with
the districts they occupied and the chiefs who ruled over
them. The part relating to Leth Conn (North of Ireland)
was written by John O'Dugan, who died in 1372 ; and
that relating to Leth Mow (South) by Gilla-na-neeve
O'Heeren who died in 1420. The whole poem has been
translated and annotated by O'Donovan, and published by
the Irish ArchsBological and Celtic Society. In such
compositions as these we could hardly expect to find true
poetry, for they are little more than mere catalogues in
verse.
Ogham was a species of writing in use in early
ages, the letters of which were formed by combinations of
short lines and points, on and at both sides of a middle
or stem line called a flesc. Scraps of Ogham are some-
times found in manuscripts; but it was almost always
used for stone inscriptions, the groups of lines and points
generally running along two adjacent sides of the stone
with the angle for a flesc. The Ogham alphabet is called
the Beth-ltds-nion : the letters are nearly all named from
trees.
According to the Brehon law books, daUans or pillar
stones with Ogham inscriptions were sometimes set up to
mark the boundaries between two adjacent properties;
wid these were often covered up with mounds of earth.
But nearly all the Oghams hitherto found are sepulchral
' View of the State of Ireland, ed. 1809, p. 124.
8 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part L
inscriptions, which contain little more than the names of
the persons interred and of their fathers. In the ancient
tales, when the death and burial of a person are recorded,
it is usually stated that a stone was placed over the grave,
on which his name was inscribed in Ogham. In no
instance has there been found any lengthened passage —
whether written or inscribed — in Ogham.
Upwards of 200 Ogham monuments have been found
in various parts of the four provinces of Ireland ; but they
are far more numerous in the south and south-west than
elsewhere. Most of these stand in their original situa-
tions ; but many have been brought to Dublin, where
they may be seen in the National Museum ; and a few
have been sent to the British Museum. Between thirty
and forty have been found in Wales and Scotland, and
three or four in England and the Isle of Man — all prob-
ably inscribed by— or under the influence of — Irishmen.
In the Book of Ballymote is an ancient treatise on
Ogham, which there is reason to believe was originally
written in the beginning of the ninth century, and copied
into this book from some older volume. There is a second
and less important treatise in another Irish manuscript.
These tracts give a key to the reading of Ogham. Inde-
pendently of these, the key has been got from bilingual
stone inscriptions — one at least in Ireland and several in
Wales — in which the same words and names are given in
both Ogham and Latin letters — like the Rosetta stone.
The key thus found corresponds with that given in the
manuscripts. Where inscriptions have not been injured
or defaced they can in general be deciphered, so that
many have been made out beyond all question. But as
the greatest number of Ogham stones are more or less worn
or chipped or broken, there is in the interpretation of the
majority of the inscriptions some conjecture and uncer-
tainty.
•Die Most Rev. Dr. Graves, inhis paper in ' Hermathena,*
vi. 241, has identified several of the individuals named in
Ogham inscriptions as persons well known in history,
which determines the dates of these individual inscriptions.
Chap. I. THE IRISH LANGUAGE 9
Of his identifications I will give one which I think the
most ingenious and interesting of all. In the old church-
yard of AghabuUoge, near Macroom, in Cork, stands a
pillar stone about eight feet high, well known as 8t.
Olan's stone or Olan's tomb, and much revered by the
peasantry — not without good reason. It is drawn and
described in the ' Dublin Penny Journal,' iii. 384, but the
writer had no idea of its true history. The popular name
preserves the name of the saint it commemorates — Eolang^
though the people now know nothing about him. St.
Finn bar of Cork, who lived early in the seventh century,
was, as we learn from his Life, taught by Holang, who
— the old narrative says — was otherwise called Mac Corb.
In the Martyrology of Donegal is commemorated a St.
Eolang of the church of Aghaboe in the present Queen's
County, who is set down as of the race of Conary II.,
king of Ireland ; while in both the Book of Leinster and
in the Lebar Brecc this St. Eolang of the race of Conary is
given as of Athhi-holg, i.e. of the present AghabuUoge ;
which satisfactorily identifies Eolang of AghabuUoge with
Eolang of Aghaboe.
Now to come to the inscription : the part that concerns
us reads, in Ogham, Anm Gorrpmac Suidd : i.e. ' [a prayer
for] the soul of Corb-Mac the Sage.' Corb-Mac is the
same as Mac Corb, with the syUables reversed according
to a common Oghamic custom. We know that Mac Corb
was another name for Finnbar's teacher Eolang ; and here
we have, in the very church named in the Book of Leinster
as Eolang's church, a monument inscribed with his second
name Corb-Mac or Mac Corb, and still well known as St.
Olan's tomb. No one wUl hesitate to believe that Eolang
or Mac Corb, St. Finnbar's preceptor, lies buried under this
pillar stone. Thus the date of the inscription is fixed at
about the year 600.
Ogham was cryptic writing, that is to say, intended to
be read only by the initiated. That this was so is proved
by many passages in our old writings— Brehon laws
histories, tales, and so forth. It was one of the accom-
plishments of a champion and of all professional men of
10 MANNERS, CUSTOMS. AND INSTITUTIONS . Pabt L
leamirig to be able to read it. In pursuance of the cryptic
idea, the names of the persons commemorated, as well as
other words of the inscription, are often intentionally
disguised under strange forms, sometimes by the insertion
of letters not belonging to the words, and sometimes by
reversing the syllables of a name : and this greatly adds to
the difficulty of deciphering inscriptions.
As to the antiquity of Ogham writing. Some contend
that all Oghams are purely pagan, dating from a time
before the introduction of Christianity ; and they will not
admit the correctness of any reading that brings an
inscription within Christian times. But there is no
evidence to support this contention, and there is plenty'bf
evidence to disprove it. Others again, while admitting
the use of Ogham in Christian times, will have it that this
writing is a survival from the far distant ages of paganism,
and that it was developed before Christianity was heard of.
Dr. Graves, who has investigated the whole subject in a
thoroughly scientific manner, maintains that Ogham was
founded on the Roman alphabet, and that consequently no
Ogham is older than the period of the earliest introduction
of Christianity into Ireland.
CHAPTER II
IRISH LITERATURE
fChief authorities for Chapters II., III., IV., V. :— Petrie's Tara ; The Mort
Rev. Dr. Healy's Ireland's Anc. Schools and Scholars ; O'Donovan's
Gram. Introd. ; Joyce's Old Celtic Romances; Miss Stokes's Early
Christian Art in Ireland ; and Early Christian Archit. in Ireland ;
Beeves on Book of Armagh in Proc. R. I. Academy, 1891 ; Docu-
menta de S. Patricio, by the Rev. Edm. Hogan, S.J. ; Petrie on
Domnach Airgid, in Trans. R. I. Academy ; O'Reilly's Irish Writers ;
Harris's Ware; O'Corry's Lect. on the MS. Materials of Irish
History.] v
Whether the pagan Irish were acquainted with the art
of writing is a question that is now difficult or impossible
to determine. Our most ancient traditions, indeed, assert
the existence of written literature in pagan times. In the
CuAF. n. miSH LITERATURE 11
account given in our old books of the revision of the law
in the time of St. Patrick we are told that the pagan code
had been previously written in books, which were brought
together and submitted to the revising council ; and in
the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick it is stated that the druids
at the court of King Laeghaire [Leary] had books. How-
ever this may be, we know that long before St. Patrick's
arrival there were Christians in Ireland (Part II. ch. iii.),
who must have been acquainted with writing. The well-
known Irishman Celestius, a disciple of the great heresiarch
Pelagius, while still a youth, and before he had imbibed
the Pelagian doctrines, wrote, in the year 369, from his
monastery on the Continent to his parents, three letters, in
the form of three little books, on the ' Love of God.' He
would not have done this, of course, if he did not know
that his parents could read them.' It is not necessary for
us to follow this argument further ; but it may be con-
sidered as pretty certain that the art of writing was
known to the Irish as early as the middle of the fourth
century ; and it is highly probable that some few at least
had the use of letters in the time of Cormac Mac Art, a
little less than a century earlier.* But all the evidence
bearing on this points to Christianity as the soui'ce of
knowledge.
Several circumstances indicate a state of literary activity
at the time of the arrival of St. Patrick. Both the native
bardic literature and the ancient lives of Patrick himself
and of his contemporary saints concur in stating that he
found in the country literary and professional men —
druids, poets, and antiquarians. And it is certain that
immediately after the general establishment of Christianity,
in the fifth century, the Irish committed to writing in
their native language * not only the laws, bardic historical
' See Four Masters, i., Introd. li. It is, however, asserted by Dr.
Healy that the words ' Scotticae gentis* — of the Scoticor Irish nation
do not refer to Celestius at all, but to Pelagius himself. If this be so,
the above argument falls to the ground. ilrelancPs Ancient Sehoola
mid Scholars, p. 39.)
* See Petrie'a Tara, p. 47.
12 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSllTUTIONS Part L
poems, &c., of their own time, but those which had been
preserved from times preceding, whether traditionally or
otherwise.' * It is hard to conceive how the use of writing
could have come into general use so suddenly without a
pretty wide-spread previous knowledge of letters. It is
at the same time true that, though our old records testify
to the existence of a succession of poets and historians
from the earliest times, no books or writings of any kind,
either pagan or Christian, of the time before St. Patrick
remain — with the possible exception of some Ogham in-
scriptions. But this proves nothing ; for a like state of
things exists in Britain, where, notwithstanding that writ-
ing was generally known and practised from the Roman
occupation down, no manuscript has been preserved of an
earlier date than the eighth century.
After the time of St. Patrick, as everything seems to have
been written down that was considered worth preserving,
manuscripts accumulated in the course of time, which were
kept either in monasteries or in the houses of hereditary
professors of learning. As there were no printed books,
readers ha«J to depend for a supply entirely on manuscript
copies. To copy a book was justly considered a very
meritorious work, and in the highest degree so if it were
a part of the Holy Scriptures, or of any other book on
sacred or devotional subjects. Scribes or copyists were
therefore much honoured ; and the annalists, after men-
tioning a man otherwise learned and eminent — whether
bishop, priest, or professor — considered it an enhancement
to his dignity if they were able to add that he was a scribe.
One of the merits of St. Columkille was his diligence in
writing : it is recorded of him that he wrote with his own
hand three hundred copies of the New Testament, which
he presented to the churches he founded. The Four
Masters mention sixty-one eminent scribes before the
year 900, forty of whom lived between the years 700
and 800.
' In the dark time of the Danish ravages, and during
the troubled centuries that followed the Anglo-Normaa
» Petrie'8 T(M-a, 38.
Chap. U. IRISH LITEBATUEE 18
invasion, the manuscript collections were gradually dis-
persed, and a large proportion lost or destroyed. In our
very oldest books there are references to and quotations
from manuscripts now no longer in existence ; and many
which existed even so late as 200 years ago are now lost.
Yet we have remaining — rescued by good fortune from
the general wreck — a great body of manuscript literature.
The two most important collections are those in Trinity
College and in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, where
there are manuscripts of various ages, from the fifth down
to the present century.' • In the Franciscan monastery of
Adam and Eve in Dublin are a number of valuable manu-
scripts which were sent from the Franciscan monastery of
St. Isidore's in Rome a few years ago — a portion of the
great collection made by the Franciscans at Louvain in
the seventeenth century. There are also many important
manuscripts in the British Museum in London, and in the
Bodleian Library at Oxford.
Before the invention of printing it was customary in
Ireland for individuals, or families, or religious com-
munities, to keep large manuscript books of miscellaneous
literature. In these were written such literary pieces as
were considered worthy of being preserved in writing —
tales, poems, biographies, genealogies, histories, annals, and
so forth — all mixed up in one volume, with scarcely any
attempt at orderly arrangement, and almost always copied
from older books. This practice of copying miscellaneous
pieces into one great volume was very common. Some of
these books were large and important literary monuments,
which were kept with affectionate care by their owners, and
were celebrated among scholars as great depositories of
Celtic learning, and commonly known by special names,
such as the Cuilmen, the 8altair of Cashel, the Book of
Cuaim. No one was permitted to make entries in such
precious books except practised and scholarly scribes ; and
the value set on them may be estimated from the fact that
one of them was sometimes given as ransom for a captive
chief. I will here notice briefly a few of the most
» Jojoe, Old Celtie Somanoet (1894), Pte&ce.
14 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Paht I.
important of those we possess — all vellum ; but there are
also many important paper manuscripts.
The oldest of all these books of miscellaneous literature
is the Lebar-na-Heera, or the Book of the Dnn Cow, now in
the Royal Irish Academy. It was written by Mailmurri
Mac Kelleher, a learned scribe who died in Clonmacnoise in
the year 1106. An entry in his own handwriting at page
37 shows how this book and others like it were compiled :
' Pray for Mailmurri Mac Kelleher who wrote and collected
this book from various books.' About the year 1340 it was
given by the O'Donnells of Tirconnell to O'Conor of Con-
naught as a ransom for their ollave of history who had been
taken captive by the O'Conors some time before ; but in
1470 the O'Donnells recovered it by force and brought it
back to Tirconnell.
As it now stands it consists of only 134 folio pages — a
mere fragment of the original work. It contains sixty-five
pieces of various kinds, several of which are imperfect on
account of missing leaves. There are a number of
romantic tales in prose ; a copy of the celebrated Amra or
elegy on St. Columkille,' composed by Dalian Forgaill
about the year 592, which no one can yet wholly under-
stand, the language is so ancient and difficult ; an imperfect
copy of the Voyage of Maildun ; and an imperfect copy of
the Tain-bo-Quelna, with several of the minor tales con-
nected with it. Among the historical and romantic tales
are the Courtship of Bmer, the Feast of Bricriu, the
Abduction of Prince Connla the Comely by the shee or
fairies, the Destruction of the palace of Da Derga and the
Death of Conary king of Ireland. The language of this
book is nearer to the pure language of the Zeussian glosses
than that of any other old book of general literature we
possess.
The Book of Leinster, the next in order of age, now in
Trinity College, Dublin, was written in 1160 and in the
years before and after. There is good reason to believe
that it was compiled wholly, or partly, by Finn Mac Gorman,
' The pieces mentioned through this chapter will be described in
detail in the next three chapters.
Chap. TL IBISH UTEEATURE 16
who was bishop of Kildare from 1148 to 1160, and by
Hugh Mac Criffan, tutor of Dermot Mac Murro^ king of
Leinster, and that it belonged to this king or to some
person of rank among his followers. The part of the
original book remaining — for it is only a part — consists of
410 folio pages, and contains nearly 1000 pieces of various
kinds, prose and poetry — historical sketches, romantic
tales, topographical tracts, genealogies, &c. — a vast collec-
tion of ancient Irish lore. The following entry occurs at
the foot of page 313 : — * Aed (or Hugh) Mac Mic Criffan
wrote this book and collected it from many books.'
Among its contents are a very fine perfect copy of the
Tain-bo-Quelna, a History of the origin of the Bom Tri-
bute, a description of Tara, a full copy of the Dinnsenchus
or description of the celebrated places of Erin. The Book
of Leinster is an immense volume, containing about as
much matter as six of Scott's prose novels.
The Lebar Brace, or Speckled Book of Mac Egan, also
called the Great Book of Duniry, is in the Royal Irish
Academy. It is a large folio volume, now consisting of 280
pages, but originally containing many more, written in a
small, uniform, beautiful hand. The text contains 226
pieces, with numbers of marginal and interlined entries,
generally explanatory or illustrative of the text. The book
was copied from various older books, most of them now
lost. All, both text and notes, with a few exceptions, are
on religious subjects : there is a good deal of Latin mixed
with the Irish. Among the pieces are the Feilire ofAengus
the Culdee, Lives of SS. Patrick, Brigit, and Columkille,
and a Life of Alexander the Great. From the traditional
titles of the book it is probable that it was written towards
the end of the fourteenth century by one or more of the
Mac Egans, a literary family who for many generations kept
8'.'hools of law, poetry, and literature at Duniry in the
county Galway, near Portumna, and also at Ballymacegan
in the north of Tipperary.
The Book of Ballymote, in the Royal Irish Academy, is a
large folio volume of 501 pages. It was written by several
scribes about the year 1391, at Ballymote in Sligo, from
16 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt L
older books, and contains a great number of pieces iu
prose and verse. Among them is a copy of the ancient
Book of Invasions, i.e. a history of the Conquests *of Ire-
land by the several ancient colonists — not the Book of In-
vasions noticed in Chapter IV., which was compiled at a
later period by Michael O'Clery. There are genealogies of
almost all the principal Irish families ; several historical
and romantic tales of the early Irish kings ; a history of
the most remarkable women of Ireland down to the Eng-
lish invasion ; an Irish translation of Nennius's History of
the Britons ; a copy of the Dinnsenchus ; a translation of
the Argonautic Expedition and of the War of Troy. The
version of Nennius has been translated and edited with
valuable notes by Dr. James Henthorn Todd and the
Hon. Algernon Herbert, forming one of the volumes pub-
lished by the Irish Archaeological Society.
The Yellow Book of Lecan [Leckan] in Trinity College
is a large quarto volume of about 500 pages. It was written
at Lecan in the county Sligo in and about the year 1390 by
two of the scholarly family of Mac Fir bis — Donogh and
Gilla Isa. It contains a great number of pieces in prose
and verse, historical, biographical, topographical, &c. ;
among them the Battle of Moyrath, the Destruction of
Brudin Da Derga, an imperfect copy of the Tain-bo-
Quelna, and the Voyage of Maildun.
The five books above described have been published in
facsimile without translations by the Royal Irish Academy,
page for page, line for line, letter for letter, so that scholars
in all parts of the world can now study them without
coming to Dublin. The Book of the Dun Cow was edited by
John T. Gilbert, LL.D., F.S.A., the others by Dr. Robert
Atkinson ; and all five have valuable Introductions and full
descriptions of contents.
The Book of Lecsui in the Royal Irish Academy, about
600 vellum pages, was written in 1416, chiefly by Gilla Isa
More Mac Firbis. The contents resemble in a general
way those of the Book of Ballymote.
There are many other books of miscellaneous Gaelic
literature in the Royal Insh. Academy and in Trinity Col«
Chap. IL IEISH LITERATURE 17
lege, such as the Book of Lismore, th« Book of Fermoy,
the Book of Hy Many j besides numerous volumes without,
special names.
Ancient Irish literature, so far as it has been preserved,
may be classed as follows : —
I. Ecclesiastical and Religious writings,
II. Annals, History, and Genealogy.
III. Tales — historical and romantic.
IV. Law, Medicine, and Science.
I do not make a separate class of translations from other
languages— Latin, Greek, French, &c. — of which there are
many in our old books.
I will dismiss the subject of medical manuscripts in a
few words here ; but much might be written about them.
The medical profession, like others in Ireland, was
generally hereditary. Several families were for genera-
tions celebrated as leeches, such as the O'Hickeys, the
O'Lees, the O'Shiels, and the O'Cassidys. Each family
kept one or more manuscript medical books, mainly in the
Irish language, containing all that was then known of
medicine, in which the physicians of each generation wrote
down from time to time their accumulated experience.
Many of these medical manuscripts are preserved in Trinity
College and in the Royal Irish Academy, as well as in the
British Museum and elsewhere. Like the law books, they
are highly technical and hard to read: none have been
translated.
I will now proceed to make some remarks on each of
the above classes separately.
18 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Past I.
CHAPTER in
ECCLESIASTICAL AND RELIGIOUS WRITINGS
Copies of the Gospels or of other portions of Scripture,
that were either written or owned by eminent saints of the
early Irish Church, were treasured with great veneration
by succeeding generations; and it became a common
practice to enclose them, for better preservation, in orna-
mental boxes or shrines. Many shrines with their
precious contents are still preserved : they are generally
of exquisite workmanship in gold, silver, or other metals,
precious stones, and enamel. Books of this kind are the
oldest we possess.
The Domnach Airgid, or Silver Shrine, which is in the
National Museum, Dublin, is a box containing a Latin
copy of the Gospels written on vellum. ' This box,' says
Dr. Petrie, ' is composed of three distinct covers, of which
the first or inner one is of wood — apparently yew ; the
second or middle one of copper plated with silver; and the
third or outer one of silver plated with gold. In the
comparative ages of these several covers there is obviously
a great difierence. The first may probably be coeval with
the manuscript which it was intended to preserve ; the
second, in the style of its scroll or interlaced ornament,
indicates a period between the sixth and the twelfth
centuries ; while the figures in relief, the omaraeiits, and
the letters in the third leave no doubt of its being the
work of the fourteenth century.' ' This was until lately
preserved near Clones in Monaghan. It was once thought
that the enclosed book was the identical copy of the
Gospels presented by St. Patrick to his disciple St. Mac
Carthenn, the founder of the see of Clogher ; but recent
investigations go to show that it is not so old as the time
of the great apostle.
The Book of Eells is the most remarkable book of this
» Trant. B. I. Acad. 1838.
CnAP. m. ECCLESIASTICAL AND RELIGIOUS WRITINGS 19
class, though not the oldest. It is a Latin copy, in vellum,
of the Four Gospels, now in Trinity College, Dublin, and
received its name from having been kept for many centuries
at Kells in Meath. The first notice of it occurs in the
Annals, at 1006, where it is recorded that 'the great
Gospel of Columkille ' — ' the principal relic of the western
world, on account of its unequalled cover,' was stolen out
of the sacristy at Kells. It was recovered soon after, but
the gold cover had been taken. Its exact age is unknown ;
but judging from the style of the penmanship and from
other internal evidence, we may conclude that it was
probably written in the seventh century. At the present
day this is the best known of all the old Irish books, en
account of its elaborate and beautiful ornamentation, of
which a description will be found farther on, in the
chapter on Irish Art.
The Cathach [Oaha] or Battle-Book of the O'Donnells.
The following is the legend of the origin of this book. On
one occasion St. Columkille was on a visit with St. Finneu
of Movilla at a place called Drumfinn in Ulster, and
while there borrowed from him a copy of the Psalms.
"Wishing to have a copy of his own, and fearing refusal if
he asked permission to make one, he secretly transcribed
the book day by day in the church. St. Finnen found
out what he was at, but took no notice of the matter till
the copy was finished, when he sent to Columkille for it,
claiming that it belonged to him as it was made from his
book without permission. St. Columba refused to give it
up, but offered to refer the dispute to the king of Ireland,
Dermot the son of Fergus Kervall; to which Finnen
agreed. They both proceeded to Tara, obtained an
audience, and laid the case before the king, who pro-
nounced a judgment that long continued to be remembered
as a proverb in Ireland :— ' To every cow belongeth her
little offspnng-cow : so to every book belongeth its little
offspring-book : the book thou hast copied without per-
mission, O Columba, I award to Finnen.' 'That is an
unjust decision, O king,' said Columkille, 'and I will
avenge it on thee.'
c 2
20 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Fart I
At this same time it happened that the son of the
king of Connaught, who was a hostage at Tara, killed in
a dispute at hurling the son of King Dermot's chief
steward during the celebration of the triennial Fes,
thereby violating the sanctuary of the Tara meeting
(Chap. X.) ; and, being aware of the consequences, he ran
to St. Columkille for protection. But he was torn from
the saint's arms by the king's orders, brought outside the
palace, and instantly put to death. Knowing well that
this would inflame the saint's anger still more, the king
gave orders that he should not be permitted to leave Tara
till his resentment had time to cool down. But Colum-
kille evaded the guards and made his way alone north-
wards over the hills to his native Tirconnell.
The princes of the northern Hy Neill, both those of
Tirconnell and Tyrone, to whom he was nearly related,
took up his quarrel, and the very next year marched
southwards to Drumclitf, where they were joined by the
enraged king of Connaught. The monarch marched north
to suppress the insurrection, and a pitched battle was
fought — A.D. 561 — at Cuil-Dremne, situated between
Drumcliff and Sligo town, where the king's army was
utterly routed. From this the book became known as the
Caha or Battle-Book. It was afterwards given up to St.
Columkille ; and it has remained ever since, a priecious
heirloom, in possession of his kindred the O'Donnells.
They always brought it with them to battle ; and it was
their custom to have it carried three times sunwise — left
to right — round their army before fighting, in the firm
belief that this would ensure victory : it was so employed
at the end of the fifteenth century. This venerable relic,
covered with a beautifully wrought case of gilt silver and
precious stones, may be seen in the National Museum,
Dublin, where it has been deposited by the head of the
O'Donnell family. Only fifty-eight of the vellum leaves of
the original book remain; and the writing is a small
uniform hand.
In Trinity College, Dublin, are two beautiful shrines
enclosing two illuminated Gospel manuscripts, the Book of
Chap. III. ECCLESIASTICAL AND RELIQIOUS WRITINGS 21
Dimma and the Book of St. Moling, both written in the
seventh century.
The Book of Armagh, now in Trinity College, for
beauty of execution stands only second to the Book of
Kells, and occasionally exceeds it in fineness and richness
of ornamentation. The learned and accomplished scribe
was F&rdomnach of Armagh, who finished the book in 807,
and died in 845. In four difierent places — at the end of
certain portions — he wrote in Latin : ' Pray for Ferdom-
nach ' ; and two of these entries are still perfectly legible.
He no doubt wrote many other books, for writing was the
business of his life, but they are all lost.
The book originally consisted of 442 pages, of which
ten are lost : with this exception it is as perfect as when
it was written. It is chiefly in Latin, with a good deal of
old Irish interspersed. It opens with a Life of St. Patrick.
Following this are a number of notes of the life and acts
of the saint, compiled by Bishop Tirechan, who himself
received them from his master Bishop Ultan, of the seventh
century. Those notes are not in the form of a connected
narrative. The book contains a complete copy of the New
Testament, and a Life of St. Martin of Tours. Perhaps
the most interesting part of the whole manuscript is what
is now commonly known as St. Patrick's .Confession
(printed by Dr. Whitley Stokes in his Tripartite Life of
St. Patrick, p. 357), in which the saint gives a brief
account, in simple unaffected Latin, of his captivity, his
escape from slavery, his return to Ireland, the hardships
and dangers he encountered, and the final success of his
mission. At the end of the Confession Ferdomnach writes
this colophon in Latin : — ' Thus far the volume which
Patrick wrote with his own hand. The seventeenth day
of March Patrick was translated to heaven.' This entry
was written about 300 years after the death of St.
Patrick: and it appears from it that Ferdomnach had
before him a book in the very handwriting of the great
apostle from which he copied the Confession.
In 1004 an entry waa made in this book which almost
transcends in interest the entries of Ferdomnach himself.
22 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt L
In that year the great king Brian Bom made a triumphal
circuit round Ireland, and arriving at Armagh, he made
an offering of twenty ounces of gold on the altar of St.
Patrick. He confirmed the ancient ecclesiastical supremacy
of Armagh, and caused his confessor and secretary Mail-
sndhain to enter the decree in the Book of Armagh. The
entry, which is as plain now as the day it was written, is
in Latin, and stands in English : — ' St. Patrick, when
going to heaven, decreed that the entire fruit of his labour,
as well of baptism and causes as of alms, should be
rendered to the apostolic city, which in the Scotic tongue
is called Arddmacha. Thus I found it in the records of
the Scots (i.e. the Irish). This I have written, namely
Mailsuthain, in the presence of Brian, supreme ruler of
the Scots, and what I have written he decreed for all the
kings of Cashel.'
Of all the old books of Ireland this was for many ages
the most celebrated and the most deeply venerated. The
popular belief was that it was written by St. Patrick
himself, from which it got the name of Ganoin PatrvjJc,
Patrick's Testament. It was entrusted to the safe keeping
of the members of a particular family, the Mac Moyres,
who for generations enjoyed a liberal land endowment in
consideration of the importance of their trust. From this
circumstance they got the name of Mac Moyre — i.e. the
descendants of the maer or keeper.
This venerable book was about being published ; and
the task of editing it was entrusted to the man who knew
most about it, the Right Rev. Dr. William Reeves, late
bishop of Down and Connor : but death intervened before
he had time to finish the crowning literary work of his
life. The book is ready, however, and it will be published.
Meantime the Irish part — every expression in the Irish
language that occurs in the book — has been edited and
published, with great learning and skill, by the Rev.
Edmund Hogan, S.J.
We have a vast body of original ecclesiastical and
religious writings. Among them are the lives of a great
many of the most distinguished Irish saints, mostly in
C«AP. IIL ECCLESIASTICAL AKD RELIGIOUS WEITINGS 23
Irish, some few in Latin, some on vellum, some on paper,
ol' various ages, from the eighth century, the period of the
Book of Armagh, down to the 18th century. Of these
manuscripts the great majority are in Dublin ; but there
are many also in the British Museum, as well as in
Brussels and elsewhere -on the Continent. The Lives of
the three patrons of Ireland — Patrick, Brigit, and Colum-
kille — are, as might be expected, more numerous than
those of the others. Of these the best known is the
•Tripartite Life of St. Patrick,' so called because it is
divided into three parts. There is a manuscript copy of
this in the British Museum, and another in the library of
the University of Oxford. It is in Irish, mixed here and
there with words and sentences in Latin. Colgan and
others after him have given their opinion that it was
originally written in the sixth century by St. Evin of
Monasterevin ; but, according to Dr. Whitley Stokes, there
are suflScient internal evidences to show that it cannot be
older than the middle of the tenth century. This has
been lately printed in two volumes, with translations and
elaborate introduction and notes by Dr. Stokes.
Besides the Irish lives of St. Columkille, there is one
in Latin, written by Adamnan, who died in the year 703.
He was a native of Donegal, and ninth abbot of lona, the
first being the founder St. Columkille ; and his memoir
is one of the most graceful pieces of Latin composition of
the Middle Ages. It has been published for the Archaeo-
logical and Celtic Society by the Rev. Dr. William Reeves,
who in his introduction and notes supplies historical,
local, and biographical information drawn from every
conceivable source.
In the year 1645 the Rev. John Colgan, a Franciscan
friar, a native of Donegal, published at Louvain, where he
then resided in the Irish monastery of that city, a large
volume entitled ' Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae,' the Lives of
the Saints of Ireland, all in Latin, translated by himself
from ancient Irish manuscripts. They are arranged
according to the festival days of the saints, and the volume
contains the lives of those whose days fall in the three
24 MANNEES, CUSTOMS. AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt I.
first months of the year. His intention was no doubt to
tiuish the work to the Slst December, but he stopped at
the 31st March, and never published any more of the work.
In 1647 he published another volume, also in Latin, which
he calls 'Acta Triadis Thaumaturgas,' the Lives of the
Wonder-working Triad. It is devoted to Saints Patrick,
Brigit, and Columkille, and consists almost entirely of
translations of all the old Lives of these three saints that
he could find : there are seven Lives of St. Patrick, in-
cluding the Tripartite life. Both volumes are elaborately
annotated by the learned editor, and text and notes — all
in Latin — contain a vast amount of biographical, historical,
topographical, and legendary information.
Another class of Irish eccle-siastical writings are the
Calendars, or Martyrologies, or Festilogies — Irish, Fdilire
[fail'ira], a festival list. The Feilire is a catalogue of
saints, arranged according to their festival days, with
usually a few facts about each, briefly stated, but with no
detailed memoirs. There are several of these Martyrologies.
I mention one in the next chapter, the Calendar of
Michael O'Clery ; and the only other one I will notice is
the Feilire of Aengns the Culdee, which is in verse. The
circumstance that gave rise to this poetical catalogue is
related in an ancient legend. One time while Aengus
was at the church of Coolbanagher, in the present Queen's
County, he saw a host of angels alighting one after another
on a grave and immediately reascending. He asked the
priest of the church who it was that was buried there, and
what he had done to merit such honour. The priest re-
plied that it was a poor old man who had lived in the place,
and the only good he ever knew him to do was to invoke
a number of the saints of the world — as many as he could
remember — going to bep at night and getting up in the
morning. ' Ah, my Gdfl ! ' exclaimed Aengus, ' when this
poor old man is so Honoured for what he did, how
great should be the reward of him who should make a
poetical composition in praise of all the saints of the year.'
Whereupon he began his poem on the spot. He con-
tinued to work at it during his subsequent residence at
Chap. m. ECCLESIASTICAL AKD RELIGIOUS WRITINGS 25
Clonenagh, and finished it while living in lowly disguise
at Tallaght.
The body of the poem consists of 365 quatrain stanzas,
one for each day in the year, each stanza commemorating
one or more saints — chiefly bat not exclusively Irish — whose
festivals occur on the particular day. But there are also
poetical prologues and epilogues and prose prefaces,
besides a great collection of glosses and explanatory com-
mentaries, all in Irish, interspersed with the text ; and all
written by various persons who lived after the time of
Aengus. There are several manuscript copies, one being
in the Lehar Brecc. The whole Feilire, with Prefaces,
Glosses, and Commentaries, has been translated and edited
by Dr. Whitley Stokes for the Royal Irish Academy.
To Aengus is also commonly attributed — but it seems
erroneously — Saltair na Eann, i.e. the Psalter of the Qua-
trains, of which the only complete copy lies in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford. It consists of 162 short Irish poems
on sacred subjects. The whole collection has been pub-
lished by Dr. Whitley Stokes, with glossary of words, but
without translation. How ancient and difficult is the
language of these pieces may be judged from the fact that
pr, Stokes was obliged to leave a large number of words
in the glossary unexplained.
There is a class of ecclesiastical writings devoted ex-
clusively to the pedigrees or genealogies of the Irish
saints, all of which, besides the direct knowledge they
convey, contain a large amount of topographical informa-
tion on the antiquities of Ireland. Of these there are
several, the oldest being that ascribed to Aengus the
Copies of this tract are found in the Books of
Culdee.
Leinster and Ballymote, and in Mac Firbis's Book of
Genealogies. Not one of these genealogies has been pub-
lished.
The Book of Hymns is one of the manuscripts of
inmty College, Dublin, copied at some time not later
than the nmth or tenth century. It consists of a number
ot hymns— some in Latin, some in Irish— composed by
the primitive saints of Ireland— St. SechnaU, St. Ultan,
26 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part t.
St. Cummin Fada, St. Columba, and others — with Pre-
faces, Glosses, and Commentaries, mostly in Irish, by
ancient copyists and editors. It has been published by
the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society, edited, with
annotations and with translations of the Irish hymns and
Irish Commentaries, by the Rev. Dr. James Henthorn
Todd.
Th«re are manuscripts on various other ecclesiastical
subjects scattered through our libraries — canons and rules
of monastic life, prayers and litanies, hymns, sermons,
explanations of the Christian mysteries, commentaries,
on the Scriptures, &c. — many very ancient. Of the nume-
rous modem writings of this class, I will specify only two,
written in classical modem Irish about the year 1630 by
the Rev. Geoffrey Keating : the * Key-shield of the
Mass,' and the ' Three Shafts of Death.' This last has
been published for the Royal Irish Academy without trans-
lation, but with a very useful glossary, by Dr. Robert
Atkinson.
CHAPTER IV
ANNALS, HISTORIES, GENEALOGIES
Annals. The Irish chroniclers were very careful to
record in writing remarkable occurrences of their own
time, or past events as handed down to them by former
chroniclers. This they did in the form of annals. The
annals are among the most important of all the ancient
manuscript writings for the study of Irish history.
The faithfulness and general accuracy of the Irish
annals are strikingly exemplified in the fact that all their
entries of natural phenomena are found to be correct. In
the Annals of Ulster there are more than twenty records
of eclipses and comets, from a.d. 496 to 1066, the year,
day, and hour of which agree exactly with the calculations
of modem astronomers. The solar eclipse of 664 may be
cited as one example. Bede, writing many years after
this eclipse, recorded it, but calculating backwards by the
CuAP. IT. ANNALS, HISTORIES, GENEALOGIES
27
erroneous method then in use, he £xed the date as the 3rd
of May, two days wrong. The Annals of Ulster give the
correct date — the Ist of May — and even the very hour, a
striking proof that the event had been recorded by some
Irish chronicler who actually saw it, from whose record
the writer of the Annals of Ulster copied it. And the
other phenomena were no doubt recorded in like manner
by eye-witnesses. In the few cases also where early
foreign or English writers notice Irish affairs, they are
aln^ays in agreement with the Irish annals. A remark-
able instance is Eginhard's record of the defeat of the
Danes in 812. Testimonies of this kind might be almost
indefinitely multiplied. The names of fifteen abbots
of Bangor who died before 691 are given in the Irish
Annals at the respective years of their death. In the
ancient Service Book known as the Antiphonary of Bangor,
which is still preserved on the Continent, there is a hymn
in which 'these fifteen abbots are recited in the same
order as in the Annals ; and this undesigned coincidence
is the more interesting because the testimonies are per-
fectly independent, the one being afforded by Irish records
which never left the kingdom, and the other by a Latin
composition, which has been a thousand years absent from
the country where it was written.' '
The natural inference from all this is that, for events
falling within historic times, though we have no books of
annals earlier than the eleventh century, yet those we
have were copied from earlier books, now lost, and the
originals of all or most of the entries in our present annals
were records of events that passed before the eyes of the
writers. That the Annals of Ulster were copied from older
sources O'Donovan shows in his Introduction to the Four
Masters, xlvi. ; and no doubt all the other annals were
similarly copied.
The following are the principal books of Irish Annals
remaining. The Synchronisms of Flann. This Flann was
a layman, Ferleginn or chief professor of the school of Mon-
asterboice: died in 1056. He compares the chronology
» Reeves, Eccl. Antiqq. 153.
23 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt L
of Ireland with that of other countries, and gives the names
of the monarchs that reigned in Assyria, Persia, Greece,
and Rome, from the most remote period, together with
most careful lists of the Irish kings who reigned contem-
poraneously with them. Copies of this tract, but imper-
fect, are preserved in the Books of Lecan and Ballymote.
The Annals of Tighemach [Teerna]. Tighemach
O'Breen, the compiler of these annals, one of the greatest
scholars of his time, was abbot of the two monasteries of
Clonmacnoise and Roscommon. He was acquainted with
the chief historical writers of the world known in his day,
and it is clear that he had the use of a good library at
Clonmacnoise. He quotes Bede, Josephus, St. Jerome,
and many others; and with great judgment compares and
balances their authorities one against another. He made
use of Flann's Synchronisms, and of most other ancient
Irish historical writings of importance. His work is
written in Irish, mixed a good deal with Latin. In the
beginning he treats of the general history of the world,
with sotne brief notices of Ireland — the usual practice of
Irish annalists ; but the history of Ireland is the chief
subject of the body of the work. One most important
pronouncement he makes, which has been the subject of
much discussion, that all the Irish accounts before the
time of Cimbaeth [Kimbay], B.C. 305, are uncertain.
Tighemach died in 1088. Several copies of his Annals
are in existence in London, Oxford, and Dublin, but all
imperfect.
The Annals of Innisfallen were compiled by some
scholars of the monastery of Innisfallen, the ruins of which
still stand on the well-known island of that name in the
Lower Lake of Killarney. They are written in Irish mixed
with Latin. In the beginning they give a short history of
the world to the time of St. Patrick, after which they treat
chiefly of Ireland. Their composition is generally ascribed
to the year 1215 ; but there is good reason to believe that
they were commenced two centuries earlier. They were
subsequently continued to 1318.
The Annals of TJhterj also called the Annals of Senait
Chap. IV. ANNALS, HISTORIES, GENEALOGIES 29
Mac Haniig, were written in the little island of Senait
Mac Manus, now called Belle Isle, in Upper Lough Erne.
They treat almost exclusively of Ireland from a.d. 444.
The original compiler was Cathal [Cahal] Maguire, an
eminent divine, philosopher, and historian, who died of
small-pox in 1498 ; and they were continued to the year
1541 by Rory O'Cassidy, and by a nameless third writer
to 1604. There are several copies of these annals, one in
a beautiful hand in a vellum manuscript of Trinity College,
Dublin. One volume has been issued, translated and
annotated by the late William M. Hennessy ; the rest has
been translated by the Rev. B. McCarthy, D.D.
The Annals of Loch Ce [Key] were copied in 1588
for Brian Mac Dermot, who had his residence in an island
in Lough Key, near Boyle in Roscommon. They are in
the Irish language, and treat chiefly of Ireland from 1014
to 1636, but have many entries of English, Scottish, and
continental events. The only copy of these annals known
to exist is a small-sized vellum manuscript in Trinity
College, Dublin. They have been translated and edited in
two volumes by William M. Hennessy.
The Annals of Connanght from 1224 to 1562. There
is a copy in Trinity College, Dublin, and wiother in the
Royal Irish Academy.
The Chronicoa Scotomm (Chronicle of the Scots or
Irish), down to a.d. 1135. This was compiled about 1650
by the great Irish antiquary Duald Mac Firbis. His
autograph copy is in Trinity College, and two other copies
are in the Royal Irish Academy. These annals have been
printed, edited with translation and notes by William
M. Hennessy.
The Annals of Boyle, from the earliest time to 1253,
are contained in a vellum manuscript in the library of the
British Museum. They are written in Irish mixed with
Latin ; and the entries throughout are very meagre.
The Annals of Clonmacnoise, from the earliest period to
1408. The original Irish of these is lost ; but we have
an excellent English translation by Connell MacGeoghegan
of Lismoyny in Westmeath, which he completed in 1627.
30 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Paut t
Of this translation several copies are preserved, of which
one is in Trinity College and another in the British
Museum. O'Donovan printed many extracts from this
compilation in his Notes to the Annals of the Four
Masters.
The Annals of the Four Masters, also called the Annals
of Donegal, are the most important of all. They were
compiled in the Franciscan monastery of Donegal, by three
of the O'Clerys, Michael, Conary, and Cucogry, and by
Ferfesa O'Mulconry ; who are now commonly known as
the Four Masters. The O'Clerys were for many genera-
tions hereditary ollaves or professors of history to the
O'Donnells, princes of Tirconnell, and held free lands and
lived in the castle of Kilbarron on the sea-coast north-
west of Ballyshannon. Here Michael O'Clery, who had
the chief hand in compiling the Annals, was bom in 1575.
He was a lay brother of the order of St. Francis, and
devoted himself during his whole life to the history of
Ireland. Besides his share in the Annals of the Four
Masters, he wrote a book containing (1) a Catalogue of
the kings of Ireland; (2) the Genealogies of the Irish
saints ; and (3) an Account of the saints of Ireland, with
their festival days, now known as the Martyrology
of Donegal. This last has been printed by the Irish
Archaeological and Celtic Society, with translation by
John O'Donovan, edited by the Rev. James Henthorn
Todd, D.D., and by the Rev. William Reeves, D.D.
Brother Michael also wrote the Book of Invasions, of which
there is a beautiful copy in the Royal Irish Academy. It
is a sort of chronological history, giving an account of the
conquests of Ireland by the several colonists, down to the
English Invasion, with many valuable quotations from
ancient Irish poems.
Conary O'Clery, a layman, acted as scribe and general
assistant to his brother Michael. His descendants were
for long afterwards scholars and historians, and preserved
his manuscripts. Cucogry or Peregrine O'Clery was a
cousin of the two former, and was chief of the Tirconnell
sept of the O'Clerys. He was a layman, and devot&d
IV. ANNALS, HISTORIES, GENEALOGIES
81
aelf to history and literature. He wrote in Irish a
of Red Hugh O'Donnell, of which his autograph copy
L the Royal Irish Acaderay. This has been translated,
jtated, and published — text and translation — by the
Denis Murphy, S.J. The fourth Master, Ferfesa
ulconry, was a historian from Kilronan in Ros-
men.
rhe materials for this great work were collected after
y years' labour by Brother Michael O'Clery, who
ight every important historical Irish manuscript he
d find in Ireland to the monastery of Donegal ; for he
ressed his fears that if the work were not then done
materials might never be brought together again,
fears seemed prophetic ; for the great rebellion of
1 soon followed ; all the manuscripts he had used
3 scattered, and only one or two of them now survive,
n the Four Masters' great compilation was lost for
y generations, and was recovered in a manner almost
iculous, and placed in the Royal Irish Academy by
George Petrie. The work was undertaken under the
)uragement and patronage of Fergall O'Gara, prince of
lavin, who paid all the necessary expenses ; and the com-
lity of Donegal supplied the historians with food and
[ing. They began their labours in 1632, and completed
work in 1636.' The Annals of the Four Masters was
slated with most elaborate and learned annotations
3r. John O'Donovan ; and it was published — Irish text,
slation, and notes — in seven large volumes, by Hodges
Smith of Dublin, — the greatest and most important
k on Ireland ever issued by any Irish publisher.
A book of annals called the Psalter of Cashel was com-
i by Cormac Mac CuUenan (see Part II. ch. vii.), but
has been lost. Besides annals in the Irish language,
e are also Annals of Ireland in Latin, such as those of
1, Dowling, Pembridge, of Multifarnham, &c., most of
3h have been published by the Archaeological and Celtic
ety.
See Petrie's account of all this in O'Donovan's Introd. to the
■ Mastert, voL i.
32
MAifNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Paht L
Histories. None of the writers of old times conceived
the plan of writing a general history of Ireland : it was
only in the seventeenth century that anything like this
was attempted. But the old Irish writers left many very
good histories of particular transactions, districts, or pe-
riods, all in the form of Historic Tales (next chapter) and
mixed up with fabulous relations. Of these the following
may be mentioned as examples — others will be noticed
in next chapter. The History of the Wars of the Gaels
with the Galls or Danes ; the History of the Bonunean
Tribute (Part II. chap, ii.) ; the Wars of Thomond,
written in 1459 by Rory McGrath, a historian of Thomond
or Clare. Of these the first has been published, with
translation, introduction, and annotations by Dr. James
Henthorn Todd : the other two still remain in manuscript.
The first history of the whole country was the Forus
Feasa ar Erinn, or History of Ireland — from the most
ancient times to the Anglo-Norman invasion, written by
Dr. Geofirey Keating, a learned Roman Catholic priest of
Tubrid in Tipperary, who died in 1644. Keating was
deeply versed in the ancient language and literature of
Ireland ; and his history, though uncritical and containing
much that is fabulous and legendary, is very interesting
and valuable for its quaint descriptions of ancient Irish
life and manners, and because it contains many quotations
and condensations from authorities now lost. The work
was translated in 1726 by Dermod O'Connor; but he
wilfally departed from his text, and his translation is
utterly wrong and misleading: ' Keating' s History is a
work which has been greatly underrated in consequence
of the very ignorant and absurd translation by Mr. Dermot
O'Connor.' * A complete and faithful translation by John
O'Mahony was published, without the Irish text, in New
York in 1866.
Genealogies. The genealogies of the principal families
were most faithfully preserved in ancient Ireland. Each
king and chief had in his household a Shanachy or histo-
rian, an oflScer held in high esteem, whose duty it was to
' Todd, St, Patrick Apoitle of IreUmd, p. 133 note.
lAP. IV. ANNALS, HISTORIES, GENEALOGIES
88
jep a written record of all the ancestors and of the several
•anches of the family. Sometimes in writing down these
mealogies the direction was downward from some dis-
aguished progenitor, of whom all the most important
sscendants are given, with intermarriages and other inci-
snts of the family. Sometimes again the pedigree is
ven upwards, the person's father, grandfather, &c., being
imed, till the chief from whom the family derived their
rname is arrived at, or some ancestor whose position in
e genealogical tree is well known, when it becomes un-
icessary to proceed farther. All persons of position were
reful to have their pedigrees preserved, partly from the
itural pride of descent from noble ancestors, and partly
icause in cases of dispute about property, election to
iefships, &c., the written records certified by a properly
lalified historian were accepted as evidence in the Brehon
w courts. In the time of the Plantations and during
e operation of the penal laws, the vast majority of the
ish chiefs and of the higher classes in general were
iven from their lands and homes ; and they and their
iscendants felling into poverty, lost their pedigrees, so
at now only very few families in Ireland are able to trace
eir descent.
Many of the ancient genealogies are preserved in the
)oks of Leinster, Lecan, Ballymote, &c. But the most
iportant collection of all is the great Book of Genealogies
mpiled in the years 1650 to 1666 in the College of St.
icholas in Galway, by Duald Mac Firbis, the last and
Dst accomplished native master of the history, laws, and
3guage of Ireland.
The confidence of the learned pablic in the ancient
ish genealogies is somewhat weakened by the fact that
ey profess to trace the descent of the several noble
nilies from Adam — joining the Irish pedigrees on to the
riptural genealogy of Magog the son of Japhet, from
lom Irish historians claim that all the ancient colonists
Ireland were descended. But passing this by and
ming down to historic times, the several genealogies,
well as those scattered portions of them found inci-
84
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part I.
dentally in various authors, exhibit marvellous consistency
and have all the marks of truthfulness. Moreover they
receive striking confirmation from incidental references in
English writers — as for instance Venerable Bede. When-
ever Bede mentions a Scot or Irishman and says he was the
son of so-and-so, it is invariably found that he agrees with
the Irish genealogies if they mention the man's name at all.
The following three tracts from the manuscript genea-
logical books have been printed, with translations and most
copious and valuable notes and illustrations by Dr. John
O'Donovan, for the Irish Archasological and Celtic Society.
An account of < The Tribes and Castoms of Hy Fiachrach '
in Connaught from Duald Mac Firbis's Book of Genea-
logies ; a similar account of ' The Tribes and Castoms
of Hy Maine ' [Mainy] from the Book of Lecan ; and
from the same book the G-enealog^ of a Munster tribe
named Coroalee. And the genealogies of numerous Irish
and Scottish families have been printed in various Irish
publications, all from the Irish manuscript books. A large
number of them will be found in the Rev. John Shearman's
' Loca Patriciana.'
In this place may be mentioned the Binnsenchns, a
topographical tract giving the legendary history and the
etymology of the names of remarkable hills, mounds,
caves, caims, cromlechs, raths, duns, and so forth. Copies
of this tract are found in several of the old Irish books
of miscellaneous literature, as already mentioned in
Chapter II, ; and some portions have been translated in
Petrie's Tara, in the Kilkenny Archaeological Journal, and
elsewhere.
CHAPTER V
HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TALES
Of all our manuscript remains, romantic literature is the
most abundant. Ingenious ' men of learning,' taking
historical events and legends as groundwork, composed
stories from time to time, of which those that struck the
HISTORICAL AND EOMANTIC TALES
85
ar fancy were caught up and remembered, and com-
1 to writing. In course of time a great body of such
;ure accumulated, consisting chiefly of prose tales.
5 Book of Leinster there is a very interesting list of
it historical tales, to the number of 187, which has
jrinted by O'Curry in his Lectures on the Manuscript
ials of Irish History, page 584. In this list the tales
issified into Battles, Voyages, Tragedies, Military ex-
ons, Cattle raids, Courtships, Elopements, Pursuits,
itures. Caves (i.e. adventures in caves). Visions, De-
ions, Sieges, Feasts, Slaughters, Exiles, Progresses,
jake eruptions. We have in our old books stories
ring to every one of these classes.
5ome of the tales are historical, i.e. founded on his-
1 events — ^history embellished with some fiction;
others are altogether fictitious — pure cieations of
lagination. But it is to be observed that even in
jtitious tales, the main characters are nearly always
ical, or such as were considered so. The old Shana-
wove their fictions round Conor Mac Nessa and his
branch Knights, or Finn and his Fena, or Luga of
ng arms and his Dedannans, or Conn the Hundred
r, or Cormac Mac Art; like the Welsh legends of
ir and his Round table, or the Arabian romances of
m al Raschid. The greater number of the tales are
ose, but some are in verse, and in many of the
tales the leading characters are often made to express
selves in verse, or some striking incident of the story
ited in a poetical form. These verse fragments are
y quotations from an older poetical version of the
tale, and are generally more archaic and difficult to
•stand than the prose.' ' Most of the tales have fallen
■ Christian influences, and contain allusions to Chris-
ioctrines and practices; but some are thoroughly
I in character, without the least trace of Christianity,
tory-telling was a favourite recreation among the
at Irish. There were professional Shanachies or
•tellers, whose duty it was to have -a number of the
* Joyce, Old Celtic Romance*, Vteiace.
d2
3G
MANNERS. CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part I
standard tales by heart, to recite them at festive gatherings
for the entertainment of the chief and his guests. These
men were always well received at the houses of princes
and chiefs, and treated with much consideration ; and on
occasions when they acquitted themselves well, so as to
draw down the applause of the company, they were often
rewarded with costly presents.
A large proportion of the tales fall under two main
cycles of ancient Irish history, which in all the Irish
poetical and romantic literature were kept perfectly dis-
* tinct : — the cycle of Conor Mac Nessa and his Red Branch
Knights, and the cycle of Finn the son of Cumal and his
Fianna [Feena]. Conor Mac Nessa was king of Ulster in
the first century of the Christian era, and lived in the
palace of Emain or Emania, whose ruins — now called the
Navan Fort — are still to be seen two miles west from the
city of Armagh. Under him flourished the Red Branch
Knights, a sort of militia for the defence of the throne.
Their commander was Cuchullain, the mightiest of the
heroes of Irish romance. He had his residence at Dun-
Dalgan, now called Castletown moat, a majestic fort two
miles west of Dundalk. The chief Red Branch heroes
under him were Conall Kemach ; Keltar of the Battles, who
lived at Rath Keltar, the great fort beside Downpatrick ;
Fergus Mac Roig ; the poet Bricriu of the Venom tongue,
who lived at Loughbrickland, where his fort still remains
near the little lake ; and the three sons of Usna — Naisi,
Ainnle, and Ardan. Contemporary with the Red Branch
Knights were the Deg^ds of Munster, whose great chief
Curoi Mac Dara resided in his stone fort palace on the side
of Caherconree mountain ; and the Gamanradii of Con-
naught, commanded by Keth Mac Magach and by the
renowned hero Ferdiad. The stories of this period, in
which figure the knights named above, and many others,
form by far the finest part of our ancient romantic
literature.
The most celebrated of all the tales is the Tain-bo-
Cnailnge [Queln6] the epic of Ireland. Medb [Maive]
queen of Connaught, who resided in her palace of Croghan
HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TALES
87
remaining near the village of Eathcroghan in the
of Roscommon — having some cause of quarrel with
ster chief, set out with her army for Ulster on a
;ring expedition, attended by all the great heroes of
ught. The invading army entered that part of
called Cuailnge or Quelii6, the principality of the
DuchuUain, the north part of the present county
At this time the Ulstermen were under a spell of
less, all but Cuchullain, who had to defend single-
i the several fords and passes, in a series of single
ts against Maive's best champions, in all of which he
ictorious. At length the Ulstermen, having been
rom the spell, attacked and routed the Connaught
The battles, single comlats, and other incidents
war, which lasted for several years, form the subject
Tarn, which consists of one main epic story with
thirty minor tales grouped round it.
ere are many copies of this old epic which are men-
in Chapter II. A few of the minor tales have been
ited and published ; but the main epic still lies
up in manuscript awaiting the loving scholarship of
me of the rising generation of Irishmen.
German scholar, Ernest Windisch, has recently pub-
a book called Irische Texte (Irish Texts) containing
iginal Irish of several of these ancient tales, without
ition, but with an elaborate glossary of Irish words
aed in German; and a French scholar, H. D'Arbois
bainville, has published his ' Litt6rature ifipique de
de ' (the Epic Literature of Ireland), a most useful
^ue of ancient Irish romantic tales, with the several
es and manuscripts in which they are to be found.
two books deserve mention if for no other reason
to show the interest taken by foreigners in Irish
ure.
' the cycle of Finn and the Fena of Erin we have
i collection of tales. Finn the son of Cumal lived
3 third century, and had his chief residence on
ill of Allen in Kildare. He was killed on the Boyne
an old man, A.D. 283 ; and of all the heroes of
88 MANNERS, CUSTOMS. AND INSTITUTIONS Part L
uncient Ireland he is most vividly remembered in popular
tradition. He was son-in-law of Cormac Mac Art, king of
Ireland, and under that monarch he commanded a militia
or standing array called the Fianna of Erin [Feena]. The
chief heroes under him, who figure in the tales, were : —
Oisin or Ossian, his son, the renowned hero poet to whom
the bards attribute — but we know erroneously — many
poems still extant ; Oscar the brave and gentle, the son of
Oiain ; Dermot O'Dyna, unconquerably brave, of untar-
nished honour, generous and self-denying, the finest
character in all Irish literature, perhaps the finest in any
literature ; Gaul Mac Morna, the mighty leader of the
Connaught Fena ; Kylta Mac Ronan the swift-footed ;
Conan Mail or Conan the bald, large bodied, foul tongued,
boastful, cowardly, and gluttonous.
The tales of the Fena, which began to be composed
about the end of the twelfth century, and continued to be
produced till the end of the last century, are neither so
ancient nor so fine as those of the Red Branch Knights :
the greater number are contained in manuscripts not more
than 100 or 150 years old. Six volumes of tales, chiefly of
the cycle of Finn, have been published with translations
by the Ossianic Society. The best of them is ' The Pursuit
of Dermot and Grania,' which has been literally trans-
lated by Standish Hayes O'Grady ; and I have given a free
English translation of it in my ' Old Celtic Romances.'
There is one Fenian tract much older than the majority of
the tales, the ' Dialogue of the Ancient Men,' which is found
in the Book of Lismore, a volume copied about the year
1400, and in several other manuscripts. It is an account,
supposed to have been given to St. Patrick by Oisin and
Kylta Mac Ronan in their extreme old age, of the historical
mountains, rocks, rivers, caves, wells, and burial mounds
all over Ireland. It is a highly interesting document, and
well deserves to be translated and annotated.
The battle of Moylena and the battle of Moyrath are
the subjects of two historic tales, both of which have been
published, the former edited by O'Curry and the latter by
O Donovan, both with valuable notes. What are called
CiiAv. V. HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TALES 8U
the ' Three Tragic Stories of Erin/ viz., the Fate of the
Children of Lir, the Fate of the Sons of Usna, and the
Fate of the Sons of Turenn, have been published in the
Atlantis, translated and edited by O'Cuny; who also
translated the Sick-bed of Cuchullain in the same periodi-
cal. Some few others have been published with translations
in the 'Kilkenny Archaeological Journal,' in the 'Pro-
ceedings of the Royal Irish Academy,' and in the ' Revue
Celtique.' Four English poetical epics have been published
founded on four of these old tales : — ' Congal,' on the
Battle of Moyrath, by Sir Samuel Ferguson ; ' The Foray
of Queen Meave,' on the Tain-bo-Queln6, by Mr. Aubrey
de Vere ; and ' Deirdre,' on the Fate of the Sons of Usna,
and ' Blanid,' on the Death of Curoi Mac Dara, both by
Dr. Robert Dwyer Joyce. I have myself published in
my ' Old Celtic Romances ' free translations — without texts
— of twelve ancient tales. The great majority of those
old tales still remain unpublished and untranslated.
CHAPTER VI
THE BREHON LAW
[Chief authorities for Chapters VI., VII., VIII., IX., X. :— The four
published volumes of the Brehon Law, and Introductions ; O'Cnrrj'g
Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, with Sullivan's
Introduction; Petrie's Essay on Tara ; Spenser's View of the
State of Ireland; Maine's History of Ancient Institutions;
O'Mahony's Keating.]
The Irish legal system, as described in this and the
following four chapters, existed in its fulness before the
nmth century. It was disturbed by the Danish and
Anglo-Norman invasions, and still more by the English
settlement; but it continued in use till finally abolished
in the beginning of the seventeenth century.
In Ireland judges were called Brehons, and the law
they administered— i.e. the Fenechas, or ancient law of Ire-
land—is now commonly known as the Brehon law To
become a brehon a person had to go through a regular
40 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part T.
well-defined course of study and training. It would
appear that the same course qualified for any branch of
the legal profession, and that once a man had mastered
the course, he might set up as a brehon, a consultintj^
lawyer, an advocate, or a law-agent. In very early times
the position of brehon or lawyer was open to anyone who
spent the proper time and completed the studies ; but in
later ages the legal profession tended to become hereditary
in certain families, some of whom were attached to kings
or chiefs, though all had to comply with the conditions as
to time and study : — ' No person is qualified to plead a cause
at the high court unless he is skilled in every department
of legal science.* ' The brehons were a very influential
class of men, and those attached to chiefs tad free lands
for their maintenance, which, like the profession itself,
remained in the family for generations. Those not so
attached lived simply on the fees of their profession, and
many eminent brehons became wealthy. It generally re-
quired great technical skill to decide cases, the legal rulfs,
as set forth in the law-books, were so complicated, and so
many circumstances had to be taken into account. The
brehon, moreover, had to be very careful, for he was him-
self liable to damages if he delivered a false or an unjust
judgment.^ There is no record how the brehons acquired
the exclusive right to interpret the laws and to arbitrate
between litigants ; it came down as a custom from times
beyond the reach of history.
In pagan times the brehons were both priests and
judges. The brehon was then regarded as a mysterious,
half-inspired person, and a divine power kept watch over
his pronouncements to punish him for unjust judgments : —
' When the brehons deviated from the truth of nature,
there appeared blotches upon their cheeks.' ' The great
brehon, Moran, son of Carbery Kinncat, king of Ireland in
the first century, wore a collar round his neck, which
tightened when he delivered a false judgment and ex-
panded again when he delivered a true one ; and similar
legends are related of other ancient brehons.
» Brehon Lamt, ii. 89. * Ibid. iii. 305. » Ibid. i. 26.
Chip Vl TIIE BREHON LAW .41
The brehons had collections of laws in volames or
tracts— all in the Irish language— by which they regu-
lated their judgments, and which those of them who kept
law-schools expounded to their scholars ; each tract treat-
ing of one subject or one group of subjects. Many of
these have been preserved, and of late years some of the
most important have been published, with translations,
forming four printed volumes. Of the tracts contained in
these volumes, the two largest and most important are the
Senchus Mor [More] and the Book of Acaill [Ack'illl In
a popular sense, it may be said that the Senchus Mor is
chiefly concerned with the Irish civil law, and the Book of
Acaill with the criminal law and the law relating to
personal injuries.
In the ancient introduction to the Senchus Mor ' the
following account is given of its original compilation. In
the year 438 a.d. a collection of the pagan law-books was
made at the request of St. Patrick, and the whole Fenechas
code was expounded to him by Duftach, the king's chief
poet, a zealous Christian convert. Laeghaire [Leary] king
of Ireland appointed a committee of nine persons to
revise them, viz. three kings — Laeghaire himself. Core
king of Munster, and Daire [Dara] king of Ulster;
three ecclesiastics — Patrick, Benen, and Caimech; and
three poets and antiquarians — Rossa, Duftach, and Fergus.
These nine having expunged everything that clashed with
the Christian faith, produced at the end of three years a
revised code, which was called Senchus Mor — also called
Cain Patrick or Patrick's Law. Though there are historical
difficulties in these statements, there seems no good reason
to doubt that there was some such revision.
The code produced by the committee contained no new
laws : it was merely a digest of those already in use, with
the addition of the Canon and Scriptural laws. The
statement in the old Introduction is, that before St.
Patrick's time the law of nature prevailed, i.e. the ancient
pagan law as expounded by Duftach to Patrick : aftier hia
^ Brehon Lartt, u3 et seq.
42 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt I.
time the law of nature and the law of the letter, i.e. the
Gospel rule.'
The very book left by St. Patrick and the others, or
the original manuscript book, at whatever time written,
has been long lost. Successive copies were made from
time to time, with commentaries and explanations ap-
pended, till the manuscripts we now possess were pro-
duced. Tlie manuscript copies of the Senchus Mor consist
of: — 1. The original text, written in a large hand with
wide spaces between the lines : 2. Commentaries on the
text, in a smaller hand : 3. Glosses or explanations on words
and phrases of the text, in a hand still smaller ; commen-
taries and glosses commonly written in the spaces between
the lines of the text : 4. An Introduction to the text.
Of these the text, as might be expected, is the most
ancient. The language is extremely archaic, indicating a
very remote antiquity, though probably not the very
language of the text left by the revising committee, but a
modified version of a later time. The Introduction comes
next in point of antiquity ; and the Commentaries and
Glosses are the least ancient of all. Introduction, Com-
mentaries, and Glosses were written or copied by dif-
ferent learned lawyers at various times from the be-
ginning of the fourteenth down to the sixteenth century :
the language, as I have said, being often much older than
the writing. The manuscript copies of the Book of Acaill
and of some other law tracts resemble those of the Senchus
Mor, the original texts being accompanied by Intro-
duction, Commentaries, and Glosses. In the printed
volumes all these are translated, and the different sizes of
the writing are marked by different sizes of type, both in
the Irish and in the translation.
It is probable that in very ancient times all laws were
in verse.^ This was evidently the case with the original
Senchus Mor, for we are told that at the compilation
' Duffcach put a thread of poetry round it for Patrick.' *
The old form has to some extent survived in the law
• Brehon Laws, i, 17 ; iii. 29.
* Maine, Hist, cf Anc. Inst. 14. * Brelum Law», i. 23, 25.
1K7', -'.^T^y^ -■
Chap. VL THE BREHON LAW 43
tracts, for certain portions of the existing version of the
Senchus Mor, and the whole of another law tract — the
Book of Rights— are in verse.
The Book of Eights ' gives an account of the rights of
the monarchs of all Ireland, and the revenues payable to
them by the principal kings of the several provinces, and
of the stipends paid by the monarchs to the inferior kings
for their services. It also treats of the rights of each of
the provincial kings, and the revenues payable to them
from the inferior kings of the districts or tribes subsidiary
to them, and of the stipends paid by the superior to the
inferior provincial kings for their services. These accounts
are authoritatively delivered in verse, each poem being
introduced by a prose statement.' *
According to the old authorities, St. Benen or Benignus
was the author of the original Book of Rights. The
present transcripts of it, which were we know copied from
more ancient versions, are not older than the end of the four-
teenth century. This however refers to the mere penman-
ship : the language is much older ; and it is O'Donovan's
opinion that the prose Introductions, which are much less
ancient than the text, were written in their present form at
a time not far removed from the period of Brian Boru.^
The Book of Rights has been published, with translation
and most valuable Introduction and Notes by John
O'Donovan, LL.D.
The language of all these old law-books is very diffi-
cult, partly on account of the peculiar style, which is very
elliptical and abrupt — often incomplete sentences, or mere
catch-words of rules not written down in full, but held in
memory by the experts of the time, and partly from the
number of technical terms, many of which are to this day
obscure. The two great Irish scholars — O'Donovan and
O'Curry — who translated them, were able to do so only
after long study ; and in numerous instances were, to the
last, not quite sure of the meaning. As they had to retain
the legal terms and the elliptical style, even the translation
is hard enough to understand, and is often unintelligible.
' £ook of Rlglits, Introd. vi. » lUd. xxv.
44 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part I.-
The Brehon code forms a great body of civil, military,
and criminal law. It regulates the various ranks of society,
from the king down to the slave, and enumerates their
several rights and privileges. There are minute rules for
the management of property, for the several industries —
building, brewing, mills, water-courses, fishing weirs, bees
and honey — for distress or seizure of goods, for tithes,
trespass, and evidence. The relations of landlord and
tenant, the fees of professional men — doctors, judges,
teachers, builders, artificers — the mutual duties of father
and son, of foster-parents and foster-children, of master
and servant, are all carefully regulated. Contracts are
regarded as peculiarly sacred, and are treated in great
detail. ' There are three periods of evil for the world ' —
says the Senchus Mor — ' the period of a plague, of a
general war, and of the dissolution of verbal contracts ' ;
and again: 'The world would be evilly situated if ex-
press contracts were not binding.' • In criminal law, the
various offences are minutely distinguished ; — Murder,
manslaughter, wounding, thefts, and all sorts of wilful
damage; and accidental injuries from flails, sledge-
hammers, and weapons of all kinds.
It does not appear that laws were enacted in Ireland
by legislative bodies convened for the purpose, with state
authority to have the laws obeyed, like our present par-
liament : in other words, no distinct legislative authority
existed. The central government was never strong enough
to have much influence either in the making of laws or in
causing the existing laws to be carried out. It has been
asserted indeed that the Fes of Tara was convened to enact
laws ; but for this assertion there is no ancient authority.
We have very full descriptions of this Fes^ and also of the
proceedings at some of the Aenachs or Fair-meetings held
elsewhere (Chap. X.). But though we find it stated over and
over again that at these assemblies the laws were publicly
' proclaimed,' or ' promulgated,' or ' rehearsed * — to make
the people familiar with them — that they were * revised,'
or * re-arranged,' or * re-afiirmed ' — these several functions
' Brehon Laws, i. 51 ; iii. 8.
Chap. VL THE BREHON LAW 45
being always performed by properly qualified lawyers —
there is nowhere any open or plain statement that laws
were vruuie or enacted and sent forth with authority either
at the Fes or at any of the Aenachs. The idea of a public
assembly to frame laws was indeed not unfamiliar : and
we find a few such meetings recorded — none of them how-
ever being the Fes of Tara. Among them may be men-
tioned the synod convened at Tara in 697, where, under
the influence of St. Adamnan, the law exempting womea
from taking part in war was agreed on and promulgated ;
and also the meeting held at Slieve Fuait to settle pre-
cincts.' But such meetings can hardly be classed as
legislative assemblies — at best they bore only a faint
resemblance to them ; for there existed no authoritative
machinery to have the laws carried out, and anyone who
chose might refuse to obey them. Moreover the special
laws stated to have been framed in this way are in them-
selves of minor importance, and form only a very in-
significant part of the body of the Brehon laws. The
Brehon laws then ' are not a legislative structure, but the
creation of a class of professional lawyers or brehons.' ^ It
is to be observed that in later times Christianity exerted
an ever-increasing influence in law as in other institu-
tions ; and it is evident from the law-books that, while
custom was the main guide of the Brehon lawyers, moral
right and wrong obtained more and more consideration in
the settlement of cases as time went on.
The Brehon law then was derived partly from im-
memorial custom, like the common law of England, and
partly from the decisions of eminent jurists — customs and
dfcisions being carefully written, with commentaries, by
successive generations of lawyers, into their books. Those
portions of the Brehon code derived from old custom—
•which the Senchus Mor calls the law of nature— are no
doubt the remains of the primitive legal rules of the Aryan
people, which were better preserved in Ireland than else-
where on account of its exemption from foreign influences.
' Brehon Lam, iv. 227 ; for Adamnan's Law see Part U. chap. iv.
* Maine, Anc. Intt. 24.
46
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Papt I.
The decisions of jurists were sometimes on actual cases,
delivered as occasion required; and sometimes on hypo-
thetical cases, which were, however, usually such as were
likely to occur in real life. How large a portion of the
Brehon code is derived from these judicial decisions will be
understood from the fact that the whole of the Book of
Acaill — 233 pages of printed matter — is composed of the
decisions and opinions of two eminent jurists — Cormac
Mac Art, king of Ireland, and Kennfaela the Learned, a
jurist who flourished in the seventh century.
The Irish being in a great measure shut out from the
rest of the world, had no opportunity of becoming ac-
quainted with the laws of other nations. Chiefly for this
reason the Brehon laws are deficient in general prin-
ciples. The lawyers' minds tended too much to fine-drawn
distinctions and over-refinement. An attempt is made to
meet all possible varieties of cases by laying down a mass
of minute rules, leaving no discretion in the hands of the
brehon ; where at the present day magistrates or juries or
judges have considerable discretionary power to fix the
amount of damages, or otherwise settle matters, by viewing
all the facts of the case. Yet as time went on wider prin-
ciples were grasped : ' The brehons were gradually ap-
proaching the idea of general legal propositions by an
induction from numerous and distinct cases which had been
decided in accordance with pre-existing custom.' *
The Brehon law was vehemently condemned by Eng-
lish writers ; and in several acts of parliament it was made
treason for the English settlers to use it. But these testi-
monies are to be received with much reserve as coming
from prejudiced and interested parties. The laws laid down
in the Brehon code were not in fact peculiarly Irish. They
were precisely similar to the ancient laws of all other
Aryan tribes, a survival — modified by time and circum-
stance— of what was once universal.* We have good reason
to believe that the Brehon law was very well suited to the
society in which, and from which, it grew up. This view
• Richey, Brehon Laws, iv Introd. vii.
' Maine. Anc. Inst. 19.
Chap. VT. THE BREHON LAW 4T
is confirmed by the well-known fact that when the Eng*
lish settlers living outside the Pale adopted the Irish
manners and customs, they all— both high and low-
adopted also the Brehon law, and became quite as much
attached to it as the Irish themselves. The Anglo-Irish
lords of those times often kept brehons in their service like
the Irish chiefs.
I will now proceed to sketch, in the four following
chapters, some of the leading features of the Brehon law.
CHAPTER Vn
THE LAWS OF COMPENSATION AND DISTRESS
In modern codes — as for instance in British law — a dis-
tinction is made between an oflfence against the state—
which is technically called a 'crime' — and an offence
against an individual- — called a ' tort.' In the former case
the state prosecutes and enforces the penalty : in the latter
the person injured prosecutes in the courts provided by the
state, and if necessary the state forces a trial at the in-
stance of the person injured, and enables him to exact the
penalty. In the Brehon law there is no such distinction
as between crimes and torts. The constant warfare in Ire-
land and the absence of a strong central government pre-
vented the idea of the state from taking root, and the
people could not look to it for supreme authority or for
protection;;:?-much the same as matters stood in England in
the time of the Heptarchy. A central state authority
would no doubt have been ultimately developed in Ireland
if the development had not been at fii-st retarded by civil
strife, and finally arrested by the Danish wars and by the
Anglo-Norman invasion.
The Brehon law accordingly knew nothing of an
offence against the state, and of course the state never
prosecuted. Every offence was against the individual — a
tort : and on the injured party or his friends devolved the
duty of seeking redress. If a man is assaulted or murdered
48 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part L
nowadays, it is the duty of the magistrates and police —
V. hether friends intervene or not — to bring the offender to
justice. But in Ireland in those times there were no
police, and a man might waylay or kill another, or set fire
to a house, or steal a horse, and still go scot free, unless the
injured person or his friends took the matter in hand. A
similar state of things existed among the Anglo-Saxons,'
as well as among all early Aryan communities.
In very early times, beyond the reach of history, the
law of retaliation prevailed — ' an eye for an eye, a tooth for
a tooth ' — in other words, every man or every family that
was injured might take direct revenge on the offender.
But this being found inconsistent with the peace and well-
being of the community — especially in cases of homicide,
which were frequent enough in those days — gradually gave
place to the law of compensation, which applied to every
form of injury from homicide down.
That this general system of compensation for wrongful
acts was at least reasonably effectual is evident from the
fact that it was the custom among all the early Aryan
tribes.^ * In most early codes with which we are acquainted
the idea of compensation predominates over that of the
duty of revenge.' ' In Ireland the process was this : — The
injured party, having no civil authority to appeal to, might
at once, if he chose, take the law into his own hands.
But though this was sometimes done, public opinion was
decidedly against it, and the long-established custom was
to refer all such matters to the arbitration of a brehon.
Accordingly, the person injured sued the offender in proper
form, and if the latter responded, the case was referred to
the local brehon, who decided according to law. The
penalty always took the form of a fine to be paid by the
offender to the person or family injured, and the brehon's
fee was usually paid out of this fine.
If the offender refused to submit the case to the usual
tribunal, or if he withheld payment after the case had been
decided against him, or if a man refused to pay a just debt
> Student's History of England, by 8. E. Gardiner, ed. 1892, p. 32,
Brehon Lares, iii., Richey in Introd. czzi. * Ibid. iii. Introd. IzzziL
rrw^-
Chap. VII. THE LAWS OF COMPENSATION AND DISTRESS 49
of any kind — in any one of these cases the plaintiff or the
creditor proceeded by Distress ; that is to say he distraiiied
or seized the cattle or other effects of the defendant. Due
notice had to be given, but no other legal preliminary— no
permission from, or reference to, any court or other higher
authority — was necessary : the plaintiff resorted to distress
on his own responsibility. We will suppose the effects to
be cattle. There was generally an anad cr stay of one or
more days on the distress; that is, the plaintiff went
through the form of seizing the cattle, but did not remove
them.' The defendant had however to give a pledge —
sometimes his son or other family member — to the plaintiff,
who retained it till the end of the stay, when he returned
it on formally getting back the distress. If the defendant
refused to give a pledge, then there was no stay, and it was
an immediate distress. If at the end of the stay the de-
fendant did not give up the distress, the plaintiff kept the
pledge, which he then might dispose of as he would the
distress.* During the stay the cattle remained in the pos-
session of the defendant or debtor — no doubt to give him
time to make up his mind, or to have the case tried before
the brehon— but the plaintiff had all the time a claim on
them.
If the debt was not paid at the end of the lawful stay,
the plaintiff, in the presence of certain witnesses, removed
the cattle and put them in a pound.' The following 'three
things are to be announced at the residence of the defendant,
i.e. the debt for which it [the distress] was taken, the
pound in which it was put, the law agent by whom it was
taken.' * They remained in the pound for a period called
a dithim, during which the expense of feeding and tending
was paid out of the value of the cattle.' At the end of
the dithim they began to be forfeited to the plaintiff at a
certain rate per day, till such a number became forfeited
as paid both^ the debt and the expenses.^ The animals
were not to be mixed : each species should have a sepaiate
» BreUn Laws, ui. 327. « Ibid. i. 209, 211.
• 7&»rf. i. 289, 291. •/Wrf.i.269.
Ibid. 1. 211 ; iii. 327. • JUd. i. 103; iii. 327.
50
MANNEBS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part L
pound ; and diseased animals were to be separated from
those that were sound. The length of the anad and of the
dithim was regulated by law according to circumstances.
There was no stay — i.e. the distress was immediate — when
it was taken by a chief from one of a lower grade, and also
in certain other obvious cases ; in some cases, also, notice
was not necessary. In immediate distress the cattle were
removed at once to the pound. If after the plaintiff had
given d^e notice the defendant absconded, his fine [finna]
or kindred were liable.^
The defendant or debtor might prevent the removal of
the cattle at the beginning, or might get them back up to
the end of the dithim, by either paying the debt or giving
a pledge that he would submit the case for trial, if it had
not been tried already.^ Goods of any kind might be taken
in distress, or a man himself, if there were no goods ; ' but
the distress was most generally in cattle.
Much jformality was observed in all these proceedings ;
and the distrainer had to be accompanied by his law-agent
and witnesses, who should be able to testify that there was
a distress and that it was carried out in exact accordance
with legal rules.* In the case of some distresses with stay
there were curious fictitious observances. Thus when
barren cattle were distrained, a stone was thrown over
them thrice before witnesses ; if hens, a little bit of withe
was tied on their feet, and their wings were clipped ; if a
dog, a stick was placed across his trough to prohibit
feeding ; if an anvil, a little withe was tied on it to pro-
hibit its use ; if carpenters' or shield-makers' tools, a little
withe-tie was put on them ; if distress was on religious
orders, a withe-tie was put on their bell-house or at the
foot of the altar, a sign that they were not to be used, and
so forth.* Aft'er these formalities it was understood that
though the defendant was allowed to keep the things, he
was not to make use of them meantime.
The object of a distress was either to recover a debt or
to force a reference to a brehon : it appears to have been
» Brehon Laws, i. 265, 287. * Ibid. iii. 327.
» lUd. i. 105, 107 ; ii, 41. * JHd. L 85. » Jbid. ii. 119 121.
'■■■^^,
CfbAP. VII. THE LAWS OF COMPENSATION AND DISTRESS 51
the almost uniFersal way of bringing about the redress of
wrong.' Heavy penalties were incurred by those who dis-
traint unjustly or contrary to law.' Distress should be
taken 'between sunrise and sunset'; except in cases of
urgent necessity it should not be taken at night.' It will
occur to anyone to ask why should not the defendant
. resist the removal of his goods. The reply to this is that
custom, backed by public opinion, was so overwhelmingly
strong that resistance was hardly ever resorted to. The
Irish proceedings by distress were almost identical with
the corresponding provisions of the ancient Roman law, as
well as of those of all the early Aryan nations.* The law
of distress is given in great detail in, and occupies a large
part — 186 pages of print — of the Senchus Mor.
In some cases before distress was resorted to a curious
castom came into play : — the plaintiff ' fasted on ' the
defendant ; and this process was always necessary before
distress when the defendant was of chieftain grade and
the plaintiff of an inferior grade." It was done in this way.
The plaintiff, having served due notice, went to the house
of the defendant, and, sitting before the door, remained
there without food. The length of the fast was regulated
by law, according to the circumstances of each case. It
may be inferred that the debtor generally yielded before
it was ended, i.e. either paid the debt or gave a pledge
that he would settle the case. If the creditor continued to
fast after an offer of payment, he forfeited all the debt due
to him.6 Fasting as a mode of enforcing a right is men-
tioned in the * Tripartite ' and other Lives of St*. Patrick ;
and from some passages it would appear that the debtor
was bound to remain fasting as long as the creditor or
complainant fasted,' though this is nowhere mentioned in
the Brehon laws. This fasting process was regarded
with a sort of superstitious awe; and it was considered
; -BwAim Z^ i. 257. « lUd. ii. 71 ; iii. 147. • Ibid. i. 106
lota^ m. Riohey in Introd. cx»xvi.-vii. ; Maine, Ane. Inst. 282.
560 note.^^' ^"l^rtiU Life of St. Patrick, clxxvii, dxxviii. 667 and
a 2
52 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt I
outrageously disgraceful for a defendant not to submit to
it : — < He that does not give a pledge to fasting is an
evader of all : he who disregards all things shall not be
paid by God or man.' ' Moreover, he had to pay double
the original claim.
This institution of fasting on a debtor is still widely
diffused in the East, and is called by the Hindoos * sitting
dhama.' They believe that if the plaintiff die of starva-
tion, the defendant is sure to be visited by fearful super-
natural penalties. Our books do not give us much
information about the Irish institution : but it is evidently
identical with the eastern custom, and no doubt it was
believed in pagan times to be attended by similar super-
natural effects.'
Suppose now the defendant defied all the proceedings
of the plaintiff to the last : here appears the striking
difference between the Brehon and modem law. British
law has the state at its back, but anyone who chose might
disobey the Brehon law, for it was not so much a law as a
custom. There really was no authority to compel any man
either to submit to the arbitration of a brehon or to abide
by his decision, except public opinion. But public opinion,
founded as it was on immemorial custom, was very strong.
Even in our own day certain customs have become so uni-
versally sanctioned by public opinion as to have all the
force of law, so that no man dares to violate them : and
public opinion then as now was generally though not
always sufficient. There might be persistent refusal, and
in this case the injured person or family might fall back
on the old rule of direct retaliation.'
Homicide, whether by intent or by misadventure, was
atoned for like other injuries, by a money fine. That men
who killed others were themselves often killed in revenge
by the friends of the victim — as in all other countries — we
know from our annals; but this always outraged public
opinion. The idea of awarding death as a judicial punish-
ment for homicide, even when it amounted to murder, does
not seem to have ever taken ..hold of the public mind in
> JireJk^m Law^ L 113. * Maine, Ane. Inst. 40, 297. • Ibid. ITU
p^."".
CiiAP.VIL THE LAWS OF COMPENSATION AND DISTRESS 53
Ireland. Capital punishmenJ; was not unknown, however ;
kings claimed the right to put persons to death for certain
crimes. Thus we are told, in the Tripartite Life of St.
Patrick,* that neither gold nor silver would be accepted
from him who lighted a fire before the lighting of the
festival fire of Tara, but he should be put to death. It
would seem, both from the ancient Introduction to the
Senchus Mor and from the Lives df St. Patrick, that the
early Christian missionaries attempted without success to
introduce capital punishment for murder.
The fine for homicide, or for bodily injury of any kind,
was called eric [errick] : the amount was adjudged by a
brehon. Many modifying circumstances had to be taken
into account — the actual injury, the rank of the parties,
the intention of the wrong-doer, the provocation, the
amount of set-off claims, &c. — so that the settlement
demanded great skill and tact on the part of the brehon.
The principles on which these awards should be made are
laid down in great detail in the Book of Acaill. The
eric for murder was double that for simple manslaughter
(or homicide without intent), ' for fines are doubled by
malice aforethought.' * The man who killed a native
freeman paid the amount of his own honour-pricej^and
seven cumals (p. 71) for the homicide itself (or double if of
malice). This will give some idea of the standard adopted,
it being understood that the total fine was higher or lower
according to the rank of the parties.
In case of homicide the family of the victim wer6
entitled to the eric. If the culprit did not pay, or
, absconded, leaving no property, his fiyie or family were
ihable, the guiding principle here, as in other parts of the
Brehon law, being that those who would be entitled to
inherit the property of the offender should, next after
himself— in their several proportions— be liable for the
fine for homicide incurred by him.» If they wished to
avoid this they were required to give up the offender to
the family of the victim,* who might then, if they pleased.
• Stokes's TnpartUe Life, 43.
Brehon Lams, iiL 69 ; iv. 245.
* Brelum Lam, iii. 99,
* Ibid. iiL 69.
64 MANKEBS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Padt I.
kill him : or failing this his family had to expel him, and
to lodge a sum to free themselves from the consequences of
his subsequent misconduct.' The expelled person had to
leave the tribe ; he then became a sort of outlaw, and would
likely become a da&r-fudir (p. 80) in some other tribe. If
neither the slayer nor his friends paid the murder-eric, then
he might be lawfully killed by the Iriends of the victim.
In the Book of Acaill there is a minute enumeration
of bodily injuries, whether by design or accident, with the
compensation for each, taking into account the position of
the parties and the other numerous circumstances that
modified the amount. Half the eric for homicide was due
for the loss of a leg, a hand, an eye, or an ear ; but in no
case was the collective eric for such injuries to exceed the
body fine, i.e., the eric for homicide ; * Dr. Richey has
shown that this part of the Brehon code is essentially the
same as the corresponding laws of all the Aryan communi-
ties, including those of the early English people.'
For homicide, and for most injuries to person, property,
or dignity, the fine consisted of two parts — first the pay-
ment tor the mere injury, which was determined by the
severity of the injury and by other circumstances ; second,
a sum called Log-enech, or Honour-price, which varied
according to the rank of the parties : the higher the rank
the greater the honour-price. The consideration of honour-
price entered into a great number of the provisions of the
Brehon law. This principle also existed in the early
Teutonic codes.
To make due allowance for all modifying circumstances
in cases of trial called for much legal knowledge and
technical skill on the part of the brehon — quite as much as
we expect in a lawyer of the present day.
Spenser, Davies, and other early English writers bitterly
denounce the law of erio-fine for homicide, as ' contrary
to God's law and man's.' It was indeed a rude and in-
adequate sort of justice, and favoured the rich, as they
could afford to pay fines better than the poor. But it waa
» Brehim Lamt, iii 382 note, 38S. « lUd. iii. 319.
* lUd. iii., Riobey in Introd. czi.
Chap. VIL THE LAWS OF COMPENSATION AND DISTRESS 65
no doubt very useful in its day, and was a great advance
on the barbarous law of retaliation, which was nothing
more than private vengeance.^ The principle of compen-
sation for murder was moreover not peculiar to Ireland.
It existed among the Anglo-Saxons, as well as among the
ancient Greeks, FVanks, and Germans — as a German insti-
tution it is mentioned with approval by Tacitus ; and traces
of it remained in English law till the early part of the
nineteenth century.*
CHAPTER Vin
GRADES AND GROUPS OF SOCIETY
The people were divided into classes, from the king down
to the slave, and the Brehon law took cognizance of all —
setting forth their rights, duties, and privileges. These
classes were not castes ; for under certain conditions
persons could pass from one to the next above. The
social subdivision of the people as given in some of the
law tracts is very minute and artificial : we may adopt
here Dr. Richey's broad arrangement,' namely into live main
classes : — (1) Kings of various grades, from the king of the
tv/ith or cantred up to the king of Ireland ; (2) Nobles ;
(3) Freemen with property; (4) Freemen without pro-
perty (or with very little) ; (5) The non-free classes. The
first three were the privilege classes : a person belonging
to these was an aire [arra] or chief. The nobles were
those who had land as their own property, for which they
did not pay rent ; they were the owners of the soil — ^the
aristocracy.
Part of this land they held in their own hands and
tilled by the labour of the non-free classes : part they let
to tenants. An aire of this class was called a flaith
[flah], i.e. a noble, a chief, a prince. There were several
' Maine, Ane. Imt. 23 » Brehon Laws, i. Introd. xlix., L
Brehon Lam, iv. Introd. cxcix. The description of the whole
■ocial arrangement on which the following account is chiefly based is
In the law tract called Crith Gabhlach : Brehon Lam*, iv. 297.
f>8 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part I.
ranks otjlaithsy the rank depending chiefly on the amount
of landed property. The lowest was the Aire-desa, so-
called from the des or fee-simple land for which he
received rent. Certain houses, horses, and equipments-
were prescribed for hira as necessary for his rank, and he
should have at least five «aer-tenants and five doer or
giallna tenants (see next chapter).
Among the nobles there was one called the Aire-eohtai,
holding a singular official position. He was the king's
champion, and his duty was to avenge all insults offered to
the king or to the tribe, particularly murder. In any
expected danger from without, he had to keep a watch at
the most dangerous ford or pass on that part of the border
where invasion was expected, and prevent the entrance of
any enemy. He had a number of attendants — all brave
fighting men — and he enjoyed several valuable privi-
leges.
The highest rank of flaith, next to the Tanist of the
king (p. 61), was the Aire-forgaill : he should have at least
twenty sagr-tenants and twenty daer-ten&nta ; and he had
to answer to the king for the character of the flaiths under
him. The Aire-forgaill seems to have been an official
one of whose functions was to determine the status and
privileges of the several nobles and functionaries about the
court. The flaiths did not pay rent : they were sharply
distinguished from the classes that follow, all of whom were
rent-payers.
A person belonging to the third class of aire — a
Don-noble rent-paying freeman with property — had no
land of his own, his property consisting of cattle and
other movable goods ; hence he was called a bo-aire, i.e. a
cow-aire. There were several ranks of bo-aires, according
to the amount of property, the lowest being the og-aire,
i.e. junior-aire, * from the youngness of his aireship.' * A
bo-aire having no land of his own, rented land from a
flaith, thus taking rank as a saer-ciile or free tenant
(see next chapter); and he grazed his cattle partly on
this and partly on the 'commons' grazing land. Hd
* Brelwn Laws, iv. 305.
f--r-f ^ :
Ca4T. nn. GRADES AND GROUPS OF SOCXETT 57
night sublet his rented land to nnder-tenants. The bo-
aires had certain allowances and privileges according to
rank. Among their allowances were a share in the mill
and in the kiln of the district, and fees for witnessing
contracts and for other legal functions.
The Brugh-fer or Braga|d [broo-fer : broo-ey] was an
interesting official of the bo-aire class. He was a public
hospitaller, bound to keep an open house for the reception
of strangers,^ and of certain functionaries — king, bishop,
poet, judge, &c. — who were privileged to claim for them-
selves and their attendants *free entertainment when on
their circuits. For this purpose he was bound to keep
always ready a sufficient supply of provisions ; and his
house should be supplied with all necessary furniture and
appliances — for he was not allowed to borrow. There
should be a number of open roads leading to it, so that it
might be readily accessible ; and he had to keep a light
burning in the faithche [faha] or lawn at night to guide
travellers. He was a sort of magistrate, and was em-
powered to deliver judgment on certain cases that were
brought before him to his house : * He is a ho-aire for
giving judgment.' He had large allowances too for the
support of the expenses of his house, and he was mnch
honoured. As visitors and their followers were constantly
coming and going, his house, furniture, and other property
were jealously protected by law from wanton or malicious
damage, the various possible injuries being set forth in
great detail, with the compensation for them. The
hrugh-fers must have been pretty numerous : probably there
was one in every tuath.^
The Fer-fothla was the highest of the bo-aires. He
was a rich man, who having more stock than he was able
to graze, hired them out as taurcrec to others (da&r-ceUes :
see next chapter), who thus became his dependents. Be-
longing to this class was an official — the Aire-Coisring —
who was the representative of all the bo-aires of his
" Brehon Lams, L 47, 61.
811* 31^315 *^'^' °^ '^® Brngaid orBrogh-fer. see Brehon Law*, ir.
68 MAKNEES, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt L
district, and was expected to be able to give an account
to the king of their conduct and obedience to the laws. If
a Fer-fothla could prove that he had twice as much pro-
perty as was required for the lowest rank of flaith (the
Aire-desa), and complied with certain other conditions and
formalities, and also provided his father and grandfather had
been aires, he was himself entitled to take rank as a flaith.
The next class — the fourth — the freemen without pro-
perty, were ciUes or free tenants ; they differed from the
bo-aires only in not possessing property in herds — for the
bo-aires were themselves ciiles or ren1>-payers ; and ac-
cordingly, a man of the fourth class became a bo-aire if
he accumulated property enough. The freemen without
property and the non-free classes will be treated of in con-
nection with land in next chapter.
The people were formed into groups of various sizes
from the family upwards. The Family was the group con-
sisting of the living parents and all their descendants : but
strangers were sometimes adopted, for which however the
consent of the tribe was necessary.' The Sept was a larger
group, descended from common parents long since dead. All
the members of a sept were nearly related, and in later
times bore the same surname. The Clan or house was still
laryer. Glann means children, and the word therefore im-
plied descent from one ancestor. The Tribe was made up
of several septs, clans, or houses, and usually claimed, like
the subordinate groups, to be descended from a common
ancestor. But inasmuch as strangers were often adopted
into all the groups — the tribe sometimes absorbing not
only individuals but smaller tribes — there was much ad-
mixture ; and the theory of common descent became a
fiction, except for a few of the leading families, who pre-
served their descent pure and kept a careful record of
their genealogy. Thus the tribe became a mere local
association of people, occupying a definite district, and
bound together by common customs, by common interests,
by living under one ruler, and in some degree by the
• Brehon Lares, iv. 61, 289.
Chap. VIIL GRADES AND GROUPS OF SOCIETY 59
fiction of descent from one common ancestor. Each mem-
ber had to bear his part of the obligations and liabilities
of the tribe : ^ for instance he had to contribute to tiie
support of old people who had no children ; and the whole
sept or tribe were liable for the fines or debts of any
individuals who absconded or were unable to pay. No
individual was free to enter into any contracts affecting
the tribe ; for example he was restricted by certain con-
ditions when he wished to sell his land.
The word fine [finna] is loosely applied to almost any
subdivision of society, from the tribe in its largest sense
down to a small group consisting of members of the same
family.
The social system was aristocratic : in no case have we
any evidence that there was a community governed by an
assembly of representatives without a permanent head.'
Each group, whether sept, clan, or tribe, was governed by
a flaith or chief, who was always a member of the ruling
family. Under the flaith who governed the whole tribe
were a number of minor flaiths of the several ranks, the
heads of the smaller associations composing the tribe.
When the tribal community comprised a large population
occupying an extensive district, it often got the desig-
nation Cinel [Kinel], still implying — like clan — descent
from a common ancestor. Thus the Kinel-Owen, who
possessed the principality of Tir-Owen, and were supposed
to be descended from Owen, son of Niall of the Nine
Hostages, were ruled by one of the O'Neills, and included
the septs of O'Cahan, Mac Quillan, O'Flynn, and many
others, each governed by a flaith who was tributary to
O'Neill. The tribe organisation was not peculiar to
Ireland ; it existed among all the Aryan nations in their
early stages.
If the territory occupied by the tribe was suflSciently
extensive, the flaith was a Ri [ree] or king ; the tnath or
cantred was the smallest territory whose ruler was called a
m. There were 184 tuaths in all Ireland, but probably
all had not kings. Many of these small sub-kingdoms
• Brehon Laws, ii. 283 ; iiL 5.5. * Ibid. ii. 279, 281.
60 MANNERS. CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt L
are now represented — more or less nearly — by the modem
baronies, most of which still retain the old names. Some-
times there was a group of four or more tuaths under one
king : this was called a mor-tuath [more], or great tuath.
There was a regular gradation of sub-kingdoms from
the tuath upwards. Some were very large, such as Tyrone,
Tirconnell, Thomond, Desmond, Ossory, &c., each of which
comprised several tribes. A minor king under a king of
one of these large territories was often called an Ur-ri
[Oor-ree], or under-king — called an Urriagh by English
writers.
Each of the five provinces — Ulster, Leinster, Munster,
Connaught, Meath — had a king ; this is commonly known
as the Pentarchy. These five provincial kings had
sovereignty over the sub-kings of their several provinces,
all of whom owed them tribute and war service. The king
of a tuath was bound to send 700 men to the field j and
the kings of larger territories in proportion.
Lastly there was the Ard-ri, or supreme monarch of all
Ireland. He had sovereignty over the provincial kings,
who were bound to pay him tribute and attend him in
war.
The following are the main features of the ancient
territorial divisions of the country. It was parcelled out
into five provinces from the earliest times of which we have
any record — Leinster, Ulster, Connaught, and the two
Munsters; this partition was made, according to the
legend, by the five Firbolg brothers, the sons of Dela.'
Laighin [Lay en] or Leinster extended from the Suir to
Inver Colpa (the mouth of the Boyne) ; Ulaid [UUa] or
Ulster from the Boyne round northwards to the little river
Drowes between Donegal and Leitrim; Olnegmacht or
Connaught from the Drowes to Limerick and the Shannon ;
Da Mumain or the two Munsters, viz., the province of
Curoi Mac Dara from Limerick to Cork and westward to
the coasts of Cork and Kerry, and the province of Achy
Avraroe from Cork to the mouth of the Suir. It is stated
that these provinces met at the hill of Ushnagh in West
* See Fart II., chap. ii. of this book.
Chap. VIIL GRADES AND GROUPS OF SOCJIETY 61
Meath — the two Munstera being, in this statement, taken
as one province.
This division became modified in course of time. A
new province — th&t of Mide or Meath — was created in the
second century by Tuathal the Legitimate, king of Ireland,
who formed it by cutting oflF a portion of each of the other
provinces round the hill of Ushnagh (Part II. chapter ii.).
Murthemne, now the county Louth, was transferred
from Ulster to Leinster ; the present county Cavan, which
originally belonged to Connaught, was given to tllster ;
and the territory now known as the county Clare was
wrested from Conoaught and annexed to Munster. The
two Munsters ceased to be distinguished, and the whole
province was known by the name of Muman or Munster.
A better known subdivision of Munster was into Thomond
or North Munster, which broadly speaking included
Tipperary, Clare, and Limerick ; and Desmond or South
Munster, comprising Kerry^ Cork, and Waterford. In
recent times Meath has disappeared as a province ; and
the original provinces remain — Leinster, Ulster, Con-
naught, and Munster.*
With the object of avoiding the evils of a disputed
succession, the person to succeed a king or chief was often
elected by the tribe during the lifetime of the king or
chief himself; when elected he was called the Tanist, a
word meaning second, i.e. second in authority. Tlie
person who was generally looked upon as the king's suc-
cessor, whether actually elected tanist or not — the heir
apparent — was commonly called the Eoydanma. Proper
provision was made for the support of the tanist by a
separate allowance of mensal land : * The tanist hath also
a share of the country alotted unto him, and certain
cuttings and spendings upon all the inhabitants under
the lord.' a
The king or chief was always elected from members of
one family, bearing the same surname ; but the succession
was not hereditary in oar sense of the word: it was
• Philips' Atlas and Geog. of IreL by P. W. Joyce. LL.D.. &
• Speuser, View, 12. . .
681 MANNERS, CUSTOMS. AND INSTITUTIONS Pact I.
elective, with the above limitation of being con6ned to one
family. Any freebom member of the family was eligible :
the tanist might be brother, son, nephew, cousin, &c., of
the chief. That member was chosen who was considered
best able to lead in war and govern in peace ; and of
course he should be of full age.* Every freeman of the
rank of Aire had a vote. The person elected, whether
king, chief, or tanist, should be free from all personal
deformities or blemishes likely to impair his efficiency as ,
a leader or to lessen the respect of the people for him.
The inauguration or making of a king was a very im-
pressive ceremony. Of the mode of inaugurating the
pagan kings we have hardly any information, further than
this, that the kings of Ireland had to stand on a coronation
stone at Tara called Lia Fail, which uttered a roar, as was
believed, when a king of the old Milesian race stood on it.
But we possess full information of the ceremonies used
in Christian times. The mode of inaugurating was much
the same in its general features all over the country ; and
was strongly marked by a religious character. But there
were differences in detail ; for some tribes had traditional
customs not practised by others. Each tribe had a special
place of inauguration, which was held in much respect —
invested indeed with a half-sacred character. It was on
the top of a hill, or on an ancestral cairn, or on a large lis
or fort, and sometimes under a venerable tree, called in
Irish a bile [billa]. Each tribe used a coronation stone —
a custom common also among the Celts of Scotland. Some
of the coronation stones had the impression of two feet,
popularly believed to be the exact size of the feet of the
first chief of the tribe who took possession of the territory.
On the day of the inauguration the sub-chiefs of the
territory were present and also the bishops, abbots, and
other leading ecclesiastics.
The hereditary historian of the tribe read for the
elected chief the laws that were to regulate his conduct ;.
after which the chief swore to observe them, to maintain
the ancient customs of the tribe, and to rule his people
' Spenser, View, ed. 1809, p. 10; Brehon Lam, ii. 279.
Citkv. VTIL GRADES AST> GROUPS OP SOCIETY
63
with strict justice. Then, while he stood on the stone, an
officer — whose special duty it was — handed him a straight
white wand, a symbol of authority, and also an emblem
of what his conduct and judicial decisions should be —
straight and without stain. Having put aside his sword
and other weapons, and holding the rod in his hand, he
turned thrice round from left to right, and thrice from
right to left, in honour of the Holy Trinity, and to view
his territory in every direction. In some cases one of
the sub-chiefs put on his sandal or shoe, in token of sub-
mission, or threw a slipper over his head for good luck and
prosperity. Then one of the sub-chiefs appointed for this
purpose pronounced in a loud voice his surname — the sur-
name only, without the Christian name — which was after-
wards pronounced aloud by each of the clergy, one after
another, according to dignity, and then by the sub-chiefs.
He was then the lawful chief: and ever after, when spoken
to, he was addressed 'O'Neill' — 'McCarthy More' —
' O'Conor,' &c. In most cases, the main parts of the in-
auguration ceremony were performed by one or more
sub-chiefs : this office was highly honourable, and waa
hereditary. The O'Neills were inaugurated at Tullahogae
by O'Hagan and O'Cahan.
Giraldus Cambrensis has an acconnt of a disgusting
ceremony which he says was observed by the Kinel-
Connell at the inauguration 'of their chiefs, and which
need not be detailed here. But it is obviously one of the
many silly stories which we find in Giraldus — like those
of the sorcerers who nsed to turn stones into red pigs at
fairs, of a lion that fell in love with a young woman, and
many others of a like kind. It is so absurd indeed
that many believe it was told to him in a joke by some
person who was aware of his unlimited credulity. Irish
writers have left us detailed descriptions of the installation
ceremonies, in none of which do we find anything like
what Giraldus mentions, and some have directly refuted
him; and their accounts have been corroborated in all
leading particulars by a writer whom many will considOT
the best authority of all— Edmund Spenser. Spenser
61 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Paiw L
knew what he was writing about, and his description,
though brief, is very correct and agrees with the Irish
accounts. 'They use to place him, that shal be their
Captain, upon a stone alwayes reserved for that purpose,
and placed commonly upon a hill : In some of which I
have seen formed and ingraven a foot, which they say was
the measure of their first Captain's foot, whereon hee stand-
ing, receives an oath to preserve all the ancient former
customes of the countrey inviolable, and to deliver up the
succession peaceably to his Tanist, and then hath a wand
delivered unto him by some whose proper oflBce that is :
after which, descending from the stone, he turneth himself
round, thrice forward, and thrice backward.' ^
Kings maintained their authority over their sub-kings
and chiefs mainly by a System of hostageship. A king
had always hostages residing in his palace, who appear
to have been generally treated with consideration, and
admitted to the court society, so long as they conducted
themselves with propriety. • He is not a king,' says the
Brehon law, ' who has not hostages in fetters.' ^
A king was not to go about unattended: he was
always to have his retinue, of which the minimum number
for each grade of king was fixed by law. He was not to
do any servile work, on penalty of being ranked as a
plebeian. The king, of whatever grade, was not despotic :
he was in every sense a limited monarch, and his duties,
restrictions, and privileges were all . strictly laid down in
the Brehon law.
It was the belief of the ancient Irish that when a
good and just king ruled, the whole country was pros-
perous— the seasons were mild, crops were plentiful, cattle
were fruitful, the waters abounded with fish, and the fruit
trees had to be propped owing to the weight of their pro-
duce. Under bad kings it was all the reverse. In the
reign of the plebeian king, Carbery Kinncat, ' evil was the
state of Ireland ; fruitless her corn, for there used to be
' Spenser, Fttfw, p. 11. For an exhaustive account by O'Donovan of
the inauguration of Irish kings, see his Hy Fiachrach, pp. 125 to 452.
* Brehon Lamtt iv. 51.
Chap. VTIL GRADES AND GROUPS OF SOCIETY
G5
only one grain on the stalk ; fruitless her rivers ; milkless
her cattle ; plentiless her fruit, for there used to be but
one acorn on the stalk.' * * There are seven proofs which
attest the falsehood of every king [i.e. seven proofs of the
king's badness] : — to turn a church synod out of their lis :
to be without truth, without law : defeat in battle : dearth
in his reign : dryness of cows : blight of fruit : scarcity of
com.' '
While the inferior, of whatever position, paid homage
and tribute to his superior, the latter, by a curious custom,
was bound to give his dependent a subsidy of some kind —
called a taurcrec : it might be a present or a yearly
stipend, or stock, or the use of land — much smaller how-
ever than what he received. The acceptance of this gift
or stipend was an acknowledgment of vassalage. When
Malachi came to Brian Boru's tent with a retinue of twelve
score men, to offer him submission, Brian gave to him, as
a vassal, twelve score steeds ; but the retinue to a man
refused to take charge of them, so Malachi presented them
in token of friendship to Brian's son Murrogh.' Some-
times— in case of the lower order of dependents — this
subsidy was called raith or wages. The tributes and
stipends for the various ranks are set forth in detail in
the Book of Rights.
It will be seen that there was a regular gradation of
authority. The tenant owed allegiance to the flaith : the
minor fiaith to the king of the tiiath : the king of the
tuath to the king of j;he more-iuath : the king of the more-
tuath to the provincial king: the provincial king to the
ard-ri of all Ireland, But this was merely the theoretical
arrangement : in the higher grades it was very imperfectly
carried out. The authority of the supreme monarch over
the provincial kings was in most cases only nominal, like
that of the early Bretwaldas over the minor kings of the
Heptarchy. He was seldom able to enforce obedience, so
that they were often almost or altogether independent of
him. There never was a king of Ireland who really ruled
' Four Masters, a.d. 14. « Brehon Laws, iv. 63.
» H-'ow df the Gaels wUh the Galls, 133.
F
f--''
66 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pact L
the whole country : the king that came nearest to it was
Brian Boru. In like manner the urrees often defied the
authority of their superiors. If the country had been left
to work out its own destinies, this state of things would
in the end have developed into one strong central
monarchy, as in England and France. As matters stood
it was the weak point in the government. It left the
country a prey to internal strife, which the ardnri was not
strong enough to quell; and the absence of union ren-
dered it impossible to meet foreign invasion by effectual
resistance.
CHAPTER IX
THE LAWS RELATING TO LAND
The following account of the ancient land laws of Ireland
is corroborated in some of its main features by those early
English writers who described the native Irish customs
from personal observation. It throws much light on the
Irish land question of modem times.
In theory the land belonged not to individuals, but
to the tribe. The king or chief had a portion assigned
to him as mensal land. The rest was occupied by the
tribesmen in the several ways mentioned below. The
chief, though exercising a sort of supervision over the whole
of the territory, had no right of ownership except over
his own property, if he had any, and for the time being
over his mensal land. It would appear that originally —
in prehistoric times — the land was all common property,
» and chief and people were liable to be called on to give
up their portions for a new distribution. But as time
went on this custom was gradually broken in upon ; and
tfte lands held by some, being never resumed, came to be
•looked upon as private property. As far back as our
records go there was some private ownership in land, and
it is plainly recognised all through the Brehon laws.'
' Brehon Lams, iii. 53; iv. 69 to 159: these referenoes given a»
Bpecimens ; maoy other passages might be referred to.
Chap. IX. THE LAWS RELATING TO LAND 67
*A11 the Brehon writers seem to have a bias towards
private, as distinguished from collective, property.' ' Yet
the original idea of collective ownership was never quite
lost: for although men owned land, the ownership was
not so absolute as at present. A man, for instance, could
not alienate his land outside the tribe; and he had to
comply with certain other tribal obligations in the manage-
ment and disposal of it,' all which restrictions were
vestiges of the old tribe ownership. But within these
limits, which were not very stringent, a man might dispose
of his land just as he pleased.
Within historic times the following were the rules of
land tenure, as set forth chiefly in the Brehon laws, and
also in some important points by early English writers.
The tribe was divided into smaller groups or septe,
each of which, being governed by a sub-chief under the
chief of the tribe, was a sort of miniature of the whole
tribe; and each was permanently settled down on a
separate portion of the land, which wae^ considered as their
separate property, and which was not |interfered with by
any other septs of the tribe. The^'land was held by
individuals in five different ways.
First : The chief, whether of the tribe or of the sept,
had a portion as mensal land, for life or for as long as he
remained chief.
Second : Another portion was held as private property
by persons who had come to own the land in various ways.
Most of these were Jlaithsy or nobles, of the several ranks ;
and some were professional men, such as physicians,
judges, poets, historians, artificers, &c., who had got their
lands as stipends for their professional services to the
chief, and in whose families it often remained for genera-
tions. Under this second heading may be included the
plot on which stood the homestead of every free member
of the tribe, with the homestead itself.
Third : Persons held as tenants portions of the lands
belonging to those who owned it as private property, or
iwrtions of the mensal land of the chief— much like
• Maine, Ane, Intt. 106. « Brehm Laws. ii. 283 ; iii. 5.S. 35.
r 2
68 MANNERS. CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt I.
tenants of the present day : these paid what was equivalent
to rent — always in kind. The term was commonly seven
years, and they might sublet to under-tenants.
Fourth : The rest of the arable land, which was called
the Tribe land, forming by far the largest part of the
territory, belonged to the people in general — the several
subdivisions to the several septs — no part being private
property.* This was occupied by the free members of the
sept, who were owners for the time being, each of his
own farm. Every free man had a right to his share, a
right never questioned. Those who occupied the tribe
land did not hold for any fixed term, for the land of the
sept was liable to gavelkind (p. 84 below) or redistribu-
tion from time to time — once every two or three years.'
Yet they were not tenants at will, for they could not be
disturbed till the time of gavelling ; even then each man
kept his crops and got compensation for unexhausted
improvements ; and though he gave up one farm he
always got another. This common occupation of land is
alluded to in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick.'
Fifth : The non-arable or waste land — mountain,
forest, bog, &c. — was Commons land. This was not
appropriated by individuals; but every free man had a
right to use it for grazing, ifor procuring fuel, or for the
chase. There was no need of subdividing the commons
by fences, for the cattle of all grazed over it without
distinction. The portion of territory occupied by each
sept commonly included land held in all the five ways
here described.
The common was generally mountain land, usually at
some distance from the lowland homesteads. Afber the
farm crops had been put down in the spring, it was a
usual custom for the whole family to migrate to the hills
with their cattle. Several families commonly joined, and
they built a group of huts on some convenient spot,
where they lived, attending to their flocks, herding during
• Brehmi Lams, iii. 5.S.
• Daviep, Discoverie: Letter to Lord Salisbury, 279, ed. 1787.
• titokes, Trij^ariite L\fe cf St. Patrichy 337, and lotrod. clxzr.
^i
Crap. IX. THE LAWS RELATING TO LAND 69
the day and milking morning and evening, changing
their abode to fresh pastures if necessary daring the ^
summer.' A temporary settlement of this kind was called ^
in Irish a biiaile [pron. booley], and the castom was
known to English writers as BooLeying. At the approach
of autumn the people returned home with their cattle for
the winter in time to gather in the crops. English writers
denounce this booleying as they did every custom differing
from their own. But it seems to have very well suited
the circumstances of the people at the time; and that
they did not neglect the cultivation of their crops appears
from many authorities — for example, Moryson's description
of the prosperous state of things he witnessed in Leix in
1600.' In ma,ny parts of Ireland there are to this day-
' commons ' — generally mountain land — attached to village
communities, on which several families have a right to
graze their cattle according to certain well-defined
regulations ; and there are bogs where they have a right
to cut peat or turf — a right of turbary, as they call it ;
and if an individual sells his land, these rights go with it.
All this is a remnant of the old custom.
Between common sept ownership on the one hand and
private ownership by individuals on the other, there was
an intermediate link ; for in some cases land was owned
by a family, though not by any individual member, and
remained in the same family for generations. This was
often the case with land granted for professional services.
A very remarkable and peculiar development of family
ownership was what was known as the Oelfine [gel'finna :
g hard as in gef] system. It is now difficult and perhaps
iinpossible to understand this system fully, for the same
reason that many other parts of the Brehon laws are
obscure or unintelligible — namely, that no description of
It IS given in the laws, inasmuch as it was then universally
familiar and well understood. But certain features are
clear enough from the context.
A Gelfine organisation when complete consisted of
» Spenser, View, ed. 1809, p. 82.
« Moryson, Mist of Irel. i. 178. See Part IV. chap. xiiL
70 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Patit t
seventeen men all related to each other, divided into four
groups : — the gelfine group — which gives name to tlie
whole organisation — consisting of five; the der/ine, the
iarfine [eer], and the innfine^ of four each. Each of the
four groups occupied in common a distinct portion of land :
the four portions were presumably conterminous, so as to
form one continuous tract. Probably in each sept there
was only one gelfine organisation, the members of which
were the family and relatives of the chief of the sept. The
gelfine group was the most junior of all ; and it was the
most privileged, no doubt as being the immediate family of
the chief, or most nearly related to him ; and, generally
speaking, the others were more and more senior and less
and less nearly related to the gelfine group, in the order
derfine, iarfine, innfine. The farther removed from the
gelfine the less privileged. The five members of the gel-
tine group were often a father and four sons.
If any one of the groups fell short of its full number,
through death or otherwise, those of the group that
remained had still the whole of the property of that group.
If any property was left to the organisation, it went to the
gelfine solely. If any group became extinct, its property
was divided among the other groups according to rules
very distinctly laid down in the law. Thus if the gelfine
became extinct, ^ of its property went to their nearest
relatives the derfine, -^ to the iarfine, and ^^ to the inn-
fine : if the derfine became extinct, -J-l to the gelfine, -^
to the iarfine, and -j^ to the innfine : and there are similar
rules to meet the extinction of each of the other groups.
The several groups might contain less, but could not
contain more, than the numbers given above. Suppose,
then, that all the groups were full, and that a new member
was bom into the gelfine. In this case the oldest of the
gelfine passed into the derfine ; the oldest of the derfine
into the iarfine ; the oldest of the iarfine into the innfine ;
and the oldest of the innfine passed out of the organisation
altogether, and became an ordinary unattached member of
the tribe.'
* Jirehon Lams, ii. 331 ; iv. 283 ; and Bicbey in iv. Introd. zliz.
Chap. K. THE LAWS RELATING TO LAND 71
It shoald be observed that the individuals and families
who owned land as private property were comparatively
few, and their possessions were not extensive: the great
balk of both people and land fell under the conditions of
tenure described under the fourth and fifth headings.
The chief of a tribe was the military leader in war, the
governor in peace ; and he and his people lived in mutual
dependence. He was bound to protect the tribesmen from
violence and wrong, and they maintained him in due
dignity.' It was both a danger and a disgrace not to
have a chief to look up to : hence the popular saying,
* Spend me and defend me.' His revenue was derived
from three main sources : — First his mensal land, some of
which he cultivated by his own labourers, some he let to
tenants : Second, subsidies of various kinds from the
tribesmen : Third, payment for stock as described farther
on. But in addition to this he might have land as his
own personal property.
Every tribesman had to pay to his chief a certaiti
subsidy according to his means. The usual subsidy for
commons pasturage was in the proportion of one animal
yearly for every seven, ^ which was considerably less than a
reasonable rent of the present day. Probably the subsidy
for tillage land was in much the same proportion. Every
person who held land shared the liabilities of the tribe ;
for instance, he was liable to military service,* and he was
bound to contribute to the support of old people who had
no children.*
This is a proper place to remark that the payments
were always in kind — live animals or provisions ; or in
case of artificers, the articles they made — furniture, metal
work, vessels, and so forth. Homed cattle formed the
general standard of value, as in all societies in an early
stage of advancement ; and they were valued not merely
for their use, but also as a medium of exchange — as money.
As an article of payment a cow or heifer was called a s6d
[shade]. A cnmal was originally a bondmaid : afterwards
' Brehan Lams, iL 346. « Ibid. iiL 129 ; iv. 306.
Ibid. iv. ly. 41. • lUd. u. 283.
72 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITimONS Part I.
the word came to denote merely the value of a bondmaid,
estimated at three s^ds. Rents, fines, dues, payments of
all kinds, were estimated in sMs and cumals. But the
word 86d is used very loosely, and seems to have varied in
v^ue according to locality; and there were s6ds of smaller
animals, which of course were of minor value. The cumal
also varied in value. For general convenience it was laid
down that where the payment was half a cumal or less, it
might be legally made in one kind of goods — cows, or
horses, or silver : from half a cumal to a cumal, in two
kinds : above a cumal, in three. Whenever horned cattle
were given in payment, one-third of them should be
oxen ; when horses, one-third should be mares ; and silver
payment should include one-third of manufactured articles.
But under mutual agreement payments might be made in
any way.*
The tribesman who placed himself under the protec-
tion of a chief, and who held land, whether it was the
private property of the lessor or a part of the general
tribe-land, was a C^ile [cail'eh] or tenant ; also called an
Aithech, i.e. a plebeian, farmer, or rent-payer. Th6se free
rent-payers were also called Fiine or Feni, which has
much the same signification as aithech. But a man who
takes land must have stock — cows and sheep for the pas-
ture-land, horses or oxen to carry on the work of tillage.
A small proportion of the c6iles had stock of their own,
but the great majority had not. Where the tenant needed
stock it was the custom for the chief to give him as much
as he wanted at certain rates of payment. A man might
hire stock from the king or a chief, or from aflaith, or
from some rich ho-aire. This custom of giving and taking
stock on hire was universal in Ireland ; and it gave rise to
a peculiar set of social relations which were regulated in
great detail by the Brehon law. Stock given in this
manner was a taurcrec (page 65), consequently the giving
of stock was an assertion of superiority : the taking was
an acknowledgment of vassalage.^ It often happened
* See for all these axrangements, BreJum Lams, iii. 151, 153.
* Ibid. iv. 315.
Chap. IX. THE LAWS EELATING TO LAND 73
that an intermediate chief who gave stock to tenants took
stock himself from the king of the territory.
The tenants were of two kinds, according to the
manner of taking stock : — Saer-c6iles, or free tenants, and
Daer-cdiles, or bond tenants — the latter also called giallna
[geelna : g hard] tenants. A saer [sare] tenant was one
who took stock without giving security — nothing but
a mere acknowledgment.^ Stock given in this manner
was saer stock, and the tenant held by saer tenure. A
da&r tenant was one who gave security for his stock : his
stock was daer stock ; and he held by daer tenure.
A king had the right to make any tenant under his rule
take sa&r stock from him, whether needing them or not,^
but in all other ca;ses the transaction was voluntary. The
saer-tenants were comparatively independent, and many
of them were rich, as for instance the bo-aires, who were
all saer-tenants to kings, chiefs, or flaiths. The payments
saer-tenants had to make were reasonable. Not so the
daer-tenants : they had to pay heavily, and were generally
in a state of dependence. Their position was much the
same as that of needy persons of our own day, who are
forced to borrow at usurious interest. More stock was
given to a man in daer tenancy than in saer tenancy. It
was of more advantage to the chief to give daer stock than
saer stock.' A man might change from saer to daer, or
the reverse, by complying with certain conditions. If a
saer tenant found he had not sufficient stock he might
change to daer tenancy, and then he got more stock.* If
a chief wished to take back his saer stock, the tenant
might demand to be made a daer tenant ; and then the
chief, instead of getting back his stock, had to give him
more.^ If he had no more to give, and still insisted on
getting back his saer stock, he got only two-thirds : the
remaining third was forfeited to the tenant for distur-
bance.^ A man might take saer but not daer stock from
> Brehm Lams, ii. 196. * lUd. ii. 223, 225.
• Ibid. ii. 211, 213. « Ibid. ii. 207-9-11.
• Ibid. ii.213. • Ilrid. u. 207.
74 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Paht 1
an external king.' This might be unavoidable if his own
chief had not stock enough to hire out.
When a man took daer stock he had to do so openly,
without any concealment ; and his Fine [finna], i.e. his
family, including all his sept or kindred within certain
degrees of relationship, might if they pleased veto the
whole transaction.' From this it would appear that daer
tenancy was viewed with disfavour by the community, for
the reason, no doubt, that it tended to lower the status of
the tribe.^ There was a sharp distinction between the
two orders of tenants, the daer tenants being very much
the lower in public estimation. When the chief gave
evidence in a court of law against his tenants, the saer
tenants were privileged to give evidence in reply, but the
daer tenants were not.*
A daer or bond tenant was so called, not that he was
a slave or an unfree person, but because by taking daer-
stock he forfeited some of his rights as a freeman, and his
heavy payments always kept him down. In theory the
taking of daer-stock was voluntary ; * for although a man
who had no stock was forced of necessity to take it on"^
hire, yet he was free to take it from any one he pleased.
Accordingly the law treats the transaction as a free con-
tract, and regards the giver and taker as voluntary
parties.
The ordinary subsidy owed by a saer-tenant to his
chief was called Bes-tigi [bess-tee] or house tribute, varying
in amount according to his means or thp extent of his
land : it consisted of cows, pigs, bacon, malt, com, &c.
He was also bound to give the chief either a certain
number of days' work, or service in war.* For whatever
saer stock he took he had to pay one-third of its value
yearly for seven years, at the end of which time the stock
bex^ame his own property without further payment.' This
was equivalent to thirty-three per cent, per annum for
• Brehon Laws, ii. 225, * lUd. U. 217
• Maine, Anc. Inst. 163. * Brehon Lavs, ii. 345.
• Ibid. ii. 223. • Ibid. ii. 196 ; iu. 495.
» Ibid. U. 196, 197, 199, 203.
Chaf. IX. THE LAWS RELATING TO LAKD 75
geven years to repay a loan with its interest — a sufficiently
exorbitant charge. He also had to send a man at stated
times to pay full homage to the chief. The labour and the
homage are designated in the laws as the worst or most
irksome of the saer tenant's obligations.*
A daer tenant had to give war-service and work. His
chief payment, however, was a food-supply called Biatad
[bee'ha] or food-rent — cows, pigs, com, bacon, butter,
honey, &c. — paid twice a year. The amount depended
chiefly on the amount of daer stock he took,* and probably
varied according to local custom. At the end of his term
he had, under ordinary circumstances, to return all the
stock or its equivalent.' But if the chief died at the end
of seven years, the tenant, provided he had paid his food
rent regularly, kept the stock.* The daer tenants were the
principal purveyors of the chief, who could be sure of a
supply of provisions all the year round for his household
and numerous followers, by properly regulating the periods
of payment of his several tenants. This custom is
described by several English writers as existing in their
own time, so late as the time of Elizabeth.
The daer tenants were bound to give coinmed [coiney]
or refection on visitation — that is to say, the chief was
entitled to go with a company to the daer tenant's house,
and remain there for a time varying from one day to a
month, the tenant supplying food, drink, and sanctuary or
protection from danger.* The number of followers and the
time, with the quantity and quality of food and the extent
of protection, were regulated by law according to the
tenant's amount of daer stock,^ and also according to the
rank of the guest: the higher the rank the longer the
time.' The protection might be relinquished either wholly
or partly for an increase of food and drink or vice versd*
Sometimes soldiers, in lieu of regular pay, were sent
among the tenants, from whom they were entitled to re-
ceive boannacht or bonaght, i.e. money, food, and enter-
' Brehon Law*, U. 195. » JWd. ii. 229. • lUd. ii. 223.
* Ihid. ii. 269. » JUd. ii. 5J0, note 2, 233 ; iii. 19.
• Ibid. iii. 21. t ji,^^^ ii 20, note 2. • lUd. iL 21.
7(5 MAIMERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part I.
tainment : an eminently evil custom. The refection and
bonught, which were by far the most oppressive of the daer
tenant's liabilities, seem to have been imposts peculiar to
Ireland. The daer tenants were subject to several other
duties, which came at irregular intervals ; and in time of
war the chief usually imposed much heavier tributes than
at other times upon all the tenants.
If either the chief or the tenant fell into poverty, pro-
vision was made that he should not suffer by unjust pres-
sure from the other party : ' No one,' says the law-book,
* should be oppressed in his difficulty.' *
Kings, bishops, and certain classes of chiefs and pro-
fessional men were also entitled to free entertainment when
passing through territories, with the proper number of
attendants.* And it appears that when certain officials
met to transact public business, the tenants, both saer and
daer, had to lodge and feed them.'
The daer tenants were by far the most numerous ; and
accordingly this system of the chief stocking the farms was
very general. It has often been compared to the metayer
system, still found in some parts of France and Italy, ac-
cording to which the landlord supplies the stock and
utensils and receives half the produce.
The text of the laws gives no information regarding the
circumstances that led some to become saer tenants and
others daer tenants ; and the whole subject is involved in
considerable obscurity. But a careful study of the text
will enable one to gather that this is probably how matters
stood. All who took land had to pay the chief certain
subsidies — as we have said — independently of what they
had to pay for stock. Those who chose to Jbecome saer
tenants did so because they had stock of their own, either
quite or nearly sufficient, and they took stock in small
quantity, either to make up the amount they needed, or
whether needing it or not to comply with the universal
custom of taurcrec. The daer tenants on the other hand
were poor men who had to take all their stock — or nearly
> Brehon Laws, ii. 339. « Ibid. iv. 347, 349, 351,
• Ibid. iii. 21.
Chap. TX. THJi. LA.WS RELAlTNa TO LAND 77
all — on hire ; and they had to give security because they were
]K)or, and because they took such a large quantity. In their
case the subsidies for land and the payments for stock are in
the laws commonly mixed up so as to be undistinguishable.
The power and influence of a chief depended very much
on the amount of stock he possessed for lending out : for
besides enriching him, it gave him all the great advantage
over his tenants which the lender has everywhere over the
borrower. This practice was so liable to abuse that the
compilers of the Brehon code attempted to protect borrow-
ing tenants by a multitude of precise detailed rules. Sir
Henry Maine considers that the payments made by the
Irish tenants for stock developed in time into a rent pay-
ment in respect of land.
Seven different modes are enumerated in the Senchus
Mor in which the parties might legally separate or dis-
solve their agreement.^ The regulations regarding these
include very careful provisions — penalties in the shape
of heavy compensation payments — to prevent either the
chief or the tenant — whether in saer or daer tenancy — from
terminating the agreement in an arbitrary fashion, as well
as to protect each against any neglect or misconduct on
the part of the other.^ The tenure of all was therefore
secure, in whatever way they held their lands.
The law throughout shows plainly a desire to be just
to all. ' In the selection of their rules [regarding land]
they have exhibited an honest and equitable spirit.'^
There is an evident endeavour to protect tenants from op-
pression by the higher classes. This is explained by the
fact that it was drawn up not by chiefs or landlords, but
by classes of persons — professional judges and lawyers —
who had no reason to be biassed towards one side or the
other, but whose sympathies would naturally be with those
liable to be oppressed. They did not indeed frame the laws,
they merely put the old customs into shape ; but they took
care to include all provisions tending to preserve the
tenants' rights — as well indeed as those of the chiefs.
* Brehon Laws, ii. 31.3. * Ibid. ii. 313 et teq.
* Brehon Lams, iv., Richey in Introd. cxL
78 MANNERS, CUStOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pakt I.
Though the custom of visiting tenants' houses forcoiney
or refection was carefully safeguarded in the Brehon law, it
was obviously liable to great abuse. In imitation of the
Irish, the Anglo-Irish lords adopted the custom of Coyne
and Livery,' which in several forms was known by various
other names — coshering^ cuddying, cutting, spending^ &c.
The first of them to practise it was Maurice Fitzgerald
the first earl of Desmond, in 1330 ; and his example was
followed by the earl of Ormond, the earl of Kildare, and
others, as well as by the Irish chiefs.' It was such a ciy-
ing evil that several acts of parliament were passed, making
it high treason ; but they were seldom carried into eflFect.
Whenever a military leader could get no money to pay his
soldiers after an expedition, he adopted the simple plan of
sending them with arms in their hands among the people
— most commonly the settlers — to extract payment for
themselves in food and money. This was coyne and livery :
and the evil custom was continued with little intermission
for maily generations.
But the Anglo-Irish coyne and livery was very
different from the Irish coinmed. For the Irish chiefs —
though apt enough to abuse their privileges — were more
or less restrained by old customs and by the letter of the
law ; they could not claim refection from any but those
who legally owed it, and the amount, however heavy, was
strictly defined.' Even a king could not exceed his proper
allowance.* For excesses of any kind the law prescribed
penalties. But the Anglo-Irish lords made no distinctions,
and were restrained by neither old customs nor legal rules.
They cared nothing for the Brehon law. They simply turned
their followers loose over the whole country to do as they
pleased, and the Irish chiefs, breaking through their own
customs, only too often followed their example. It is from
English writers we get the most vehement denunciations of
the custom. Davies says that when the English had learned
' Coyne and livery — food for man and horse. Coyne is the Irish
eoiwmed or coiney ; livery is French — food for a horse.
* Davies, Disamerie, 195. ed. 1747. * Brehon Lams, ii. 233, 257, 2591
* Brehon Law*, iv. 337, and Kichey in Introd. cciv.
Chap. IX- THE LAWS RELATING TO LAND 79
coyne and livery, ' they used it with more insolency and
made it more intoUerable ; ' ' and that the soldiers, while
they were quartered on tiie people, committed murders,
robberies, and many other crimes.' Several times he states
that it almost destroyed the English settlements ; for the
settlers, ruined by constant exactions, fled the country in
great numbers, while those that remained joined the Iiish.*
In one passage, seeming at a loss for words strong enough,
he says — quoting from an ancient writer — that it would
ruin hell itself if introduced there.*
The tenants hitherto spoken of — the saer and daer
tenants — were all free men. Each had a house of his own,
the right to a share of the tribe land and to the use of the
commons. They had also some political rights ; yet the
daer tenants lay under some degree of serfdom. We
now come to treat of the non-free classes. The term
* non-free ' does not necessarily mean servile. The non-
free people were those who had scarcely any rights — some
none at all. They had no claim to any part of the tribe
land or to the-use of the commons ; and except xmdefir&ry
restricted conditions they could not enter into jwmtr^ts.
Yet some justice was done to them : for if a freeman made a
forbidden contract with a non-free person, the former was
punished, while the non-free man had to be compensated
for any loss he incurred by the transaction." Their stand-
ing varied, some being absolute slaves, some little re-
moved from slavery, and others far above it. That slavery
pure and simple existed in Ireland in early times we know
from the law-books as well as from history ; and that it
continued to a comparatively late period is proved by the
testimony of Giraldus Cambrensis, who relates that it was
a common custom among the English to sell their children
and other relatives to the Irish for slaves — Bristol being
the great mart for the trade. Slaves in those days formed
a recognised item of traflSc in Ireland. They must have
been very numerous in the twelfth century ; for at the
synod held in Armagh in 1171, the clergy came to the
' Davies, Diseoverie, p. 175. ed. 1747. ~- » IMd. 190.
• Ibid. 153, 189. ♦ JMd. 33. » Jtreium Liws, ii. 289.
80 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Past L
conclusion that the Norman invasion was a curse from
heaven as a punishment for the inhuman traffic in slaves ;
and they anathematised the whole system and decreed
that all English slaves were free to return to their own
country. How far this decree took effect we are not told.'
The non-free people were of three classes, who are
distinguished in the law and called by different names : —
the Bothach, the Sendeithe, and the Fudir. The persons
belonging to the first two were herdsmen, labourers,
squatters on waste lands, horse-boys, hangers-on and
jobbers of various kinds — all poor and dependent. But
they enjoyed one great advantage : they were part of the
tribe, and had consequently the right to live within the
territory and to support themselves by their labour.
The third class — the Fiidirs — were the lowest of the
three. Though permitted by the chief to live within the
territory, they hsid no right of residence, for they were not
members of the tribe. A fudir was commonly a stranger,
a fugitive from some other territory, who had by some
misdeed, or for any other reason, broken with his tribe and
fled from his own chief to another who permitted him to
settle on a portion of the unappropriated commons land.
But men became fudirs in other ways, as we shall see.
Like the chiles, the fudirs were distinguished into saer and
doer* The saer fudirs were those who were free from
crime, and who, coming voluntarily, were able to get
moderately favourable terms from the chief. They were
permitted to take land from year to year, and they could
not be disturbed till the end of their term. Allowance had
to be made to them for unexhausted improvements, such as
manure. As they were permitted a settlement by the
grace of the chief, they were reckoned a part of the chiefs
Ane or family.* Outside these small privileges, however,
they were tenants at will. It would seem indeed that the
chief might demand almost anything he pleased from a
fudir tenant, and if refused might turn him off* Any
' ffib, Empugn. lib. i. cap. zriii.; see also Harris's Ware, iL
chap XX.
« Brehon Lam, iii. 10, 11. » Ibid, iv 283. ♦ Ibid. Ui. 131
Chap. K. THE LAWS RELATING TO LAND 81
freeman might give evidence against a fudir : but the fodir
could not give evidence in reply.'
Some of the fudir tenants however who accumulated
wealth were much better circumstanced. If there were five
of them under one chief, each possessing at least 100 head
of cattle, they might enter into partnership so as to answer
for each other's liability. In this case they enjoyed
privileges that put them almost on a level with the c6iles or
tenants. They had a share in the tribe land and in the
commons : they took stock from the chief, and paid Uaiad
or food rent. They paid their part of any fines that fell on the
sept from the crimes of individuals : and they took their
share of any property left to the find or sept like the ordinary
tenants.* But these must have been the rare exceptions.
The daer fudirs were esofeped criminals, captives fivm
other districts or other countries, convicts respited from
death, persons sentenced to fine and unable to pay,
purchased slaves, &c. If a daer fudir took land it did not
belong to him during occupation ; ' he was merely per-
mitted to till it : he was a tenant at will, having no right
whatevei'" in his holding. He was completely at the mercy
of the chief, who generally rackrented him so as to leave
barely enough for subsistence. Some daer fhdirs were
mere slaves : and those who were not were little better :
St. Patrick while in captivity at Slemish was a daer fudir.
The daer fudirs belonged to the land on which they were
settled, and could not leave it. The land kept by a flaith or
noble in his own hands was commonly worked by daer
fudirs : and none but a flaith could keep them on his
estate. Yet their lot was not hopeless : the law favoured
their emancipation : a daer fudir could become a saer fudir
in course of time under certain conditions.
The settlement of fudirs was disliked by the com-
munity and discouraged by the Brehon law:* for it cur-
tailed the commons land ; and while it tended to lower
the status of the tribe, it raised the power of the chief,
who in cases of dispute could bring all his fudirs into the
> Brehcn Lam, iii. 131. * Tbid. ?v. ?9, 43.
» Itid. iii. 131. * Maine, Ane. Inst. 175.
82 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part T.
field. Any social disturbance, such as rebellion, invasion,
civil war, &c., in which many were driven from their
homes and beggared, tended to increase the number of the
fudirs. Spenser, Davies, and other early English writers
speak of the Irish tenants as in a condition worse than
that of bondslaves, and as taking land only from year to
year. No doubt the tenants they had in view were the
fudirs, who must have been particularly numerous during
the Irish wars of Elizabeth. It is evident from the Brehon
law that the fudirs were a most important class on account
of their numbers ; for as they tended to increase in the
disturbed state of the country from the ninth century down,
they must ultimately have formed a very large proportion
of the population.
As the number of persons who held land as private
property, as well as the total extent of land so held, in-
creased in course of time, we find that the letting and
hiring by ordinary contract, without reference to saer or
daer tenure, became more prevalent. The later law tracts
show that the old tenures and these newer contracts existed
side by side, till the whole Irish land system was swept
away in the reign of James I.
The tenants of all kinds were protected — more or
less — by old customs and by the Brehon law, which also
safeguarded the rights of the landlord as well as those of
the tenant. The law expressly provided that the chief
should not exact excessive rent or subsidy from the tenants.
Nevertheless the state of things described in the last few
pages obviously tended to increase the power of the chiefs
and to throw the land more and more into their hands ;
and the movement in this direction was accelerated by the
English settlement. For when the English lords and
undertakers settled down on their Irish estates, they found
it more convenient to adopt the native customs of receiving
rent, as squaring in with the habits of the people and con-
sequently giving less trouble. Bat while they carefully
preserved the landlord rights, and went even further by
imposing various tributes unknown to the ancient Irish,'
* O'Ponovan in Book of Rights, Introd. xvii. to xxii.
Chap. IX. THE LAWS RELATING TO LAND 83
they disregarded the rights of the tenants as laid down in
the Brehon law : and the neighbouring Irish chiefs readily
followed their example.
The ancient rights of the tenants, i.e. of the c6iles or
freemen, as may be gathered from the preceding part of this
chapter, were chiefly three: — A right to some portion of the
arable or tribe land, and to the use of the commons : a right
to pay no more than a fair rent, which in the absence of ex-
press agreement was adjusted by law : ^ a right to own a
house and homestead, and with certain equitable exceptions,"*
all unexhausted improvements.^ Unless under special con-
tract in individual cases the fudirs had no claim to these —
with this exception however, that the saer fudirs had a right
to their unexhausted improvements. Among those who
held the tribe land there was no such thing as eviction from
house or land, so that all had what was equivalent to
fixity of tenure. If a man failed to pay the subsidy to his
chief, or the rent of land held in any way, or even the
debt due for stock, it was recovered like any other debt,
by distress, never by process of eviction.'
When the authority of the Brehon law became weak-
ened—chiefly through the influence exerted by the English
settlement — the tenants lost their best support, and all
their rights were gradually swept away, till land, houses,
and improvements of every kind came — in the absence of
express contract — to be considered as the exclusive pro-
perty of the landlords ; and the tenants were nearly all
driven into the position of the fudirs of old. The fudirs
in fact never died out, but rather increased and multiplied
under the combined influences of perpetual social distur-
bance and force from above. The tenants at will, who
were so numerous within our own memory, were fudirs
under another name, with no rights worth mentioning.
They were indeed altered in many ways by the modern
conditions of society, but not altered at all in their help-
lessness and misery.
• Brehon Laws, i. 159 ; ii. 317 ; iii. 127 ; iv. 97.
* Ibid. iv. 13H, 135, 137.
' Uid. i. 123, 157, 159, 169, 187, 215, 219, 231, 233 ; iv. 133, 135, 137.
G 2
84 JIANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Patit I.
But customs that have grown up slowly among a
people during more than a thousand years take long to
eradicate. They subsist as living forces for generations
after their formal abolition ; and notwithstanding the
lapse of three centuries, there has remained all along, and
remains to this day — lurking deep down in the minds of
the people — a sort of unconscious memory of the old right
to subsistence from the soil, and a disbelief in the land-
lord's absolute ownership of the land. The people never
in fact quite forgot or quite relinquished their old Brehon
law claims ; and the cruel land war went on and became
more bitter with lapse of time — the tenants ever getting
the worst — till recent legislation restored to them a por-
tion of their loft rights and privileges.
In Ireland the land descended in three different ways.
First : as private property. When a man had land under-
stood to be his own, it would naturally pass to his heirs ' —
i.e. his heirs in the sense then understood, not necessarily
in our sense of the word ; or he might if he wished divide
it among them during his life, a thing that was sometimes
done. In the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick we find cases
of the sons inheriting the land of their father.^ There
appears in the Brehon law a tendency to favour descent
of land by private ownership : ' The Brehon law writers
seem to me distinctly biassed in favour of the descent of
property in individual families.' ' It should be remarked
that those who inherited the property, inherited also the
liabilities.*
Second : The land held by the chief as mensal estate,
descended, not to his heir, but to the person who succeeded
him in the chiefship. This is what is known as descent
by Tanistry. >
Third : By Gavelkind. When a tenant who held a
part of the Tribe Land died, his farm did not go to his
children : but the whole of the land belonging to the find
• Brehon Lwici, iii. .S99 ; iv. 45, C9.
« Stokes's Tripa/rtite Life, 109, 111. * Maine, Ane, Inst. 193.
* Brehon Laws, iii. 399 to 405; iv. 45.
Chap. IX. THE LAWS RELATING TO LAND 85
or sept was redivided or gavelled among all the male adult
members of the sept — including the dead man's adult sons
— those members of the sept who were illegitimate getting
their share like the rest.' The domain of the chief and all
land that was private property were exempt. The redis-
tribution by gavelkind on each occasion extended to the
sept — not beyond. Davies (Letter to Lord Salisbury, ed.
1787, p. 280) complains with justice that this custom
prevented the tenants from making permanent improve-
ments.
Davies asserts that land went by only two modes —
Tanistry and Gavelkind : but both the laws and the an-
nals show that descent by private ownership was well
recognised.
The two customs of Tanistry and (gavelkind formerly
prevailed all over Europe, and continued in Russia till a
very recent period ; and Gavelkind, in a modified form,
still exists in Kent. They were abolished and made illegal
in Ireland in the reign of James I. ; after which land
descended to the next heir according to English law.
CHAPTER X
fosterage: public assemblies: SANcruAmES^
Fosterage. One of the leading features of Irish social life was
fosterage, which prevailed from the remotest period. It was
practised by persons of all classes, bnt more especially by
those in the higher ranks. A man se:|t his child to be
reared and educated in the home and with the family of
another member of the tribe, who then became foster
father, and his children the foster brothers and foster
sisters of the child.
Fosterage was subject to stringent regulations, which
were carefully set forth in the law. A special portion of
' Davies, Discoverie, ed. 1747, p. 169; Brehon iMWt, iv. 7, 9.
86 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part I.
the Senchus Mor — occupying twenty-four pages of the
second volume — is devoted to it ; in which the rights,
duties, and obligations of the parties are detailed with
minute particularity : and it is referred to in other parts
of the law. I give here the most important of these
regulations.
A child might be sent to fosterage at one year of age.
Boys might be kept till seventeen and girls till fourteen,
which were considered the marriageable ages : then they
returned to their parents' house. There were tryo kinds of
fosterage — for affection and for payment. In the first
there was no fee : in the second the fee varied according
to rank. For the son of an og-aire or lowest order of chief,
it was three cows ; and from that upwards to the son of
a king, for which the fee was eighteen cows. For girls, as
giving more trouble, requiring more care, and as being less
able to help the foster parents in after life, it was some-
thing higher. The child, during fosterage, was treated in
all respects like the children of the house : he worked at
some appropriate employment or discharged some suitable
function for the benefit of the foster father.
The foster child was to be educated by the foster
parents. The education prescribed was very sensible,
aiming much more directly at preparing for the future
life of the child than do some of our modern educational
systems. The following was the technical or non-literary
part of their education. The sons of the humbler ranks
were to be taught how to herd kids, calves, lambs, and
young pigs; how to kiln-dry com, to prepare malt, to
comb wool, and to cut and split wood : the girls how to
use the needle according to their station in life, to grind
com with a quern, to knead dough, and to use a sieve. The
sons of chiefs were to be instructed in horsemanship,
archery, swimming, and chess-playing, and in the use of
the sword and spear ; and the daughters in sewing, cutting
out, and embroidery. For the neglect of any of these there
was a fine of two-thirds of the fosterage fee. There were
minute regulations regarding clothes, food, and means of
amusement, all of which varied according to rank. How
Chap. X. FOSTERAGE : ASSEMBLIES : SANCTUARIES 87
far the foster father was liable for injuries suffered by the
foster child at the hands of others, or for his misdeeds, is
set forth with great care.
Precautions were taken — in the shape of penalties —
to prevent the fosterage being terminated before the time
by either party without cause. At the termination of the
period of fosterage the foster father gave the foster son a
parting gift, the amount of which was regulated according
to rank and other circumstances. If in after life the foster
father fell into poverty, and had no children of his own to
support him, he had a claim on his foster son for mainte-
nance, provided he had duly discharged all the duties of
fosterage, including that of the parting gift. The foster
mother had a similar claim. It was usual for a chief to
send his child to be fostered to one of his own sub-chiefs :
but the parents often chose a chief of their own rank.
Sometimes a chief had a large number of children at
fosterage : in the Book of the Dan Cow we are told that
at one time Achy Beg, king of Cliach, the district round
Knockainy in Limerick, had forty boys in his charge, sons
of the nobles of Munster.* In cases where children were left
without parents or guardians, and required protection, the
law required that they should be placed in fosterage under
suitable persons.^
Fosterage was the closest of all ties between families.
The relationship was regarded as something sacred. The
foster children were often more attached to the foster
parents and foster brothers than to the members of their
own family: and cases have occurred where a man has
voluntarily laid down his life to save;the life of his foster
father or foster brother. The custom of fosterage existed
in Ireland — though in a modified form — even so late as
the seventeenth or eighteenth century.
There was also a literary fosterage, when a boy was
sent to be reared up by a professor and instructed for a
degree. The foster father was ' to instruct him without
reserve, to prepare him for his degree, to chastise him
* O'Curry, Manners and Cuistoms, i. 357.
' Brefwn Law», ii. Introd. ML
l-^-/
S 88 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS PAnrt
without severity, and to feed and clothe him while learning
his legitimate profession.' The amount of fee was regu-
lated by law. AH gains earned by the pupil while.learning
were to be paid to the tutor, and also the first fee he
earned after leaving him. If the teacher fell into poverty
in after life his foster pupil was bound to support him.
The relationship of literary fosterage was regarded as still
more close and sacred than that of ordinary fosterage.'
Gtossipred. When a man stood sponsor for a child at
baptism, he became the child's godfather, and gossip to the
parents. Gossipred was regarded as a sort of religious
relationship between families, and created mutual obliga-
tions of regard and friendship.
Fosterage and gossipred were fiercely denounced by
early English writers. But gossipred in a modified form
exists to this day all over the empire ; and the custom of
fostering was formerly common among the Welsh, the
-Anglo-Saxons, and the Scandinavians. After the Invasion
the colonists readily fell in with fosterage and gossipred ;
and it was quite usual for the Anglo-Irish nobles to give
their children to be fostered by the Irish chiefs. The
government always looked on this practice with disfavour,
for their aim was to keep the races asunder ; and several
times laws were enacted making fosterage with the Irish
high treason ; but these laws were generally disregarded.
Public assemblies. In early times when means of in-
tercommunication were very limited, it was important that
the people should hold meetings to discuss divers affairs
affecting the public weal, and for other business of impor-
tance. In Ireland popular assemblies and meetings of re-
presentatives were very common, and were called by various
names — ^e«, DaZ, Mordal, Aenach^ &c. They were continued
to a late period. Spenser in the following accurate descrip-
tion notices them as frequent in his time : — 'There is a great
use amongst the Irish, to make great assemblies together
upon a rath or built house to parlie (as they say) about
' Tot Yosterage, see Brehon Lams, ii. 147, 349; and Harris's Ware^
ii. ch. xi.
■,l
Chap. X. FOSTERAGE: ASSEMBLIES: SANCTUARIES 89
matters and wrongs between township and township, or
one private person and another.' *
The Aenach or Fair was an assembly of the people of
every class belonging to a district or province. Some
fairs were annual ; some triennial. According to the most
ancient traditions, many of these aenachs — perhaps all^
had their origin in funeral games ; and we know as a fact that
the most important of them were held at ancient cemeteries,
where kings, or renowned heroes, or other noted personages
— of history or legend — were buried. One was held at
the great cemetery of Croghan in Connaught Iround the
grave and monumental pillar-stone of King Dathi. A
triennial fair was held at Carman in Kildare, which
lasted for a week — the first week in August. At Tlachtga,
now known as the Hill of Ward near Athboy in Meath,
there was a yearly fire-festival beginning on the eve of
Samin (1st November). In the fire kindled here the druids
burned their sacrifices ; and while it lasted all other fires
in Ireland were to be extinguished or covered. A fair-
meeting was held in the month of May every year on the
Hill of Ushnagh in Westmeath ; and during this time it
was the custom all through Ireland to light fires through
which cattle were driven as a preservative for the coming
year against disease. This old pagan custom of driving
cattle through fire on May day, subsisted in some parts of
the country within my own memory. The most remark-
able of all those fairs was held yearly on the 1st August
and the following days at Tailltenn, now Teltown on the
Blackwater, midway between Navan and Kells. This was
originally instituted — according to the old legend — by the
Dedannan king Lugad of the Long Hand, in commemora-
tion of his foster mother TaillUn from whom the place
took its name. At all these places there are ancient
cemeteries : at the three last named — ^Tlachtga, Ushnagh,
and Tailltenn — ^Tuathal the Legitimate, king of Ireland in
the second century, built three royal forts, selecting these
sites no doubt on account of their celebrity from im-
memorial ages.' Fairs of less importance were held in
' View of the State of Ireland, ed. 1809, p. 126.
00 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Vaht 1
innumerable other places all over the country ; and con-
stant references are made to them in the old literature.
Important affairs of various kinds, national or local,
were transacted at these meetings. The laws were publicly
promulgated or rehearsed tomalce the people familiar with
them. There were councils or courts to consider divers local
matters — questions affecting the rights, privileges, and
customary usages of the people of the district or province —
acts of tyranny or infringement of rights by powerful per-
sons on their weaker neighbours — disputes about property
— the levying of fines — the imposition of taxes for the
construction or repair of roads — the means of defence to
meet a threatened invasion, and so forth. All these func-
tions were discharged by persons specially qualified.
Then there were sports and pastimes, to suit high and
low : — music and singing, jugglery and masked plays by
di'uith or buffoons, horse-racing and all sorts of athletic
sports, and the recitation of poetry, genealogy, history,
and historic tales. For excellence in the various perfor-
mances, the king or chief, or some other important person,
distributed prizes. Many of those sports and pastimes
were also carried on at feasts and banquets, where the
recitation of tales was an amusement rarely omitted.
.Marriages formed a special feature of the fair of Tailltenn.
From all the surrounding districts the young people came
with their parents, bachelors and maidens being kept
apart in separate places, while the fathers and mothers
made matches, arranged the details, and settled the
contracts. After this the couples were married, the cere-
monies being always performed at a particular spot. All
this is vividly remembered in tradition to the present day ;
and the people of the place still point out what they call
the 'Marriage Hollow.' Meetings continued to be held
annually in Teltown on the first of August till the
beginning of the nineteenth century ; greatly changed from
what they were in the olden time, but to the last athletic
sports a main feature.
In pagan times there were various druidic rites at all
the aenachs: but these were superseded by Christianity j
Chap. X. FOSTERAGE : ASSEMBLIES : SANCTUARIES 91
and affcer the time of St. Patrick Masses, singing of
hymns, and other religious observances, constituted^art of
the proceedings.
The fair meeting was also a market for the sale and
purchase of all kinds of commodities : — Food and clothes,
live stock, gold and silver articles — the traffic in these
last, as we are told, attracting numbers of foreigners, who
came over sea to sell their tempting wares to the natives.
These markets were a great convenience in those days
when there were few centres of population, and hardly
any such places as shops, where people could buy what
they wanted. The fairs of the present day are remnants
of the aenachs ; but almost the only one of the old func-
tions retained is that of buying and selling, with a faint
imitation of the sports.'
It is probable that the Danish raids caused the dis-
continuance of many of the aenachs, though some were
afterwards revived. The last fair of Carman was held in
1033 by Donogh MacGilla Patrick, king ofLeinster; and
the last — i.e. the last formal celebration — at Tailltenn was
held by King Roderick O'Connor in 1168.
The most celebrated of all the ancient meetings was
the Fes or Convention of Tara. This, like the other great
meetings, was originally connected with funeral games;
for there was here a cemetery in which many illustrious
persons were interred. The old tradition states that it
was instituted by Ollamh Fodla [Ollav Fola]. It was
originally held, or intended to be held, every third year ;
but within the period covered by our authentic records —
since the fourth or fifth century — it was generally convened
only once by each king, namely at the beginning of hia
reign — or if oftener it was on some special emergency.
This Fes was a convention of the leading people, not
an asnaeh for the masses : and it represented all Ireland.
The provincial kings, the minor kings and chiefs, and the
most distinguished representatives of the learned profes- -
' For an ancient Irish poetical description of the proceedings at
aenachs or fairs, see the • Fair of Carman ' : O'Curry, Manners and
Customs, ii 523.
92 MANNERS. CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt L
Bions — the ollaves of history, law, poetry, &c. — attended.
It lasted for seven days, from the third day before Samin
(1st November) to the third day after it: the formal
meetings for the consideration of important matters were
held in the great Banqueting Hall. The king of Ireland
feasted the company every day: there was a separate
compartment for the representatives of each province with
their numerous attendants ; and each guest had his
special place assigned according to rank. We have very
detailed descriptions of all these arrangements in our
ancient literature : all of any value have been published
with translations by Dr. Petrie in his essay on Tara.
The last convention was held here by King Dermot the
son of Fergus, a.d. 560.
At the Fes of Tara — as well indeed as at all other
important meetings — elaborate precautions were taken to
prevent quarrels or unpleasantness of any kind. Anyone
who struck or wounded another, used insulting words, or
stole anything, was punished with death : and all persons
who attended were free for the time from prosecution and
from legal proceedings of every kind.
Maigens or Sanctuaries. The plot of land around the
house of a person of rdnk was a sort of asylum. This
was called a Maigen or precinct : and within it no man
should break the peace without the consent of the owner.
The higher the rank the larger the maigen. The maigen
of a bo-aire, the lowest rank entitled to the privilege, was
the smallest : it extended the cast of a spear all round
his house. That of an aire-desa extended two casts. The
extent doubled for each rank upwards to the king of the
tuaihj whose maigen extended sixty-four casts round his
residence. The maigen of a provincial king or of the
king of Ireland included the whole plain on which the
palace stood. There was also a maigen — varying accord-
ing to rank — round the dwelling of an ecclesiastic, and
also round a church : the sanctuary of a church was often
called Termon land. The archbishop of Armagh had the
Bume extent of maigen as the king of Ireland.
The right accorded to the maigen was for the protec-
Chap. X. FOSTERAGE : ASSEMBLIES : SANCTUARIES 93
tion of the owner, not in the interest of the person pro-
tected. No act of violence was to be committed within it
by an outsider. A fugitive, no matter what his crime — if
he entered a maigen with the consent of the owner — was
safe for the time being. But as the right of asylum
belonged to the owner only, if he waived his claim the
fugitive might be arrested. This formality also was neces-
sary:— the owner should guarantee that no loss should
accrue to the pursuer or aggrieved party by the temporary
shelter afforded to the fugitive — that the original claim
should hold good — that the fugitive should not be enabled
to finally escape from justice. If this guarantee was not
given the pursuer was not bound to respect the sanctuary.
The fugitive was in fact simply protected against imme-
diate vengeance and secured a fair trial. A person who
committed any act of violence within a maigen — provided
he knew it was one, and that the necessary formalities
were observed — had to pay damages to the owner, the
amount depending on honour-price, on the extent of the
violence, and on other circumstances.
This law of sanctuary in and around a house existed
also in early times in England, and in a form almost
identical with that laid down in the Brehon law.'
CHAPTER XI
MUSIC
(.Chief anthorities: — O'Cuny, Manners and Customs, with Sullivan's
Introd. ; Lynch, Cambrensis Eversus, chap. iv. ; Bunting, Anc.
Mus, of Ireland ; Petrie, Anc. Mus. of Ireland ; Joyce, Anc. Irish
Music; G. F. Graham's Introd. to Francis Robinson's Melodies
of Ireland.]
From very early times the Irish were celebrated for their
skill in music. Our native literature abounds in references
to music and to skilful musicians, who are always spoken
of in terms of the utmost respect.
' Brehon Lams, iii. Introd. ciii For the whole law of Precincts see
Brehon Laics, iv. 227.
91 , MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part I.
In the early ages of the church many of the Irish
ecclesiastics took great delight in playing on the harp;
and in order to indulge this innocent and refining taste,
they were w5nt to bring with them in their missionary
wanderings a small portable harp. This fact is mentioned
not only in the Lives of some of the Irish saints, but also
by Giraldus Cambrensis.' Figures of persons playing on
harps are common on Irish stone crosses, and also on the
shrines of ancient reliquaries. It appears from several
authorities that the practice of playing on the harp as an
accompaniment to the voice was common in Ireland as
early as the fifth century.
During the long period when learaing flourished in
Ireland, Irish professors and teachers of music would seem
to have been almost as much in request in foreign countries
as those of literature and philosophy. In the middle of
the seventh century, Gertrude, daughter of Pepin, mayor
of the palace, abbess of Nivelle in Belgium, engaged
SS. Foillan and Ultan, brothers of the Irish saint Fursa
of Peronne, to instruct her nuns in psalmody.^ In the
latter half of the ninth century the cloister schools of
St. Gall were conducted by an Irishman, Maengal or
Marcellus, a man deeply versed in sacred and human
literature, including music. Under his teaching the
music school there attained its highest fame ; and among
his disciples was Notker Balbulus, one of the. most
celebrated musicians of the middle ages.'
That the cultivation of music was not materially in-
terrupted by the Danish troubles appears from several
authorities. Warton, in his ' HiwStory of English Poetry,' *
says : — ' There is sufficient evidence to prove that the
Welsh bards were early connected with the Irish. Even
so late as the eleventh century the practice continued
among the Welsh bards of receiving instruction in the
bardic profession [of poetry and music] from Ireland.'
The Welsh records relate that Gryffith ap Conan, king of
' Top. Bib. iii. 12. * Bolland. Acta SS., 17 Mar. p. 59.5.
• Schubiger, Die Sdngerschule St. OaUeas, p. 33. * Vol. i. Diss, i
^
Chap. XL MUSIC 95
Wales, whose mother was an Irishwoman, and who was
himself born in Ireland, brought over to Wales — about
the year 1078 — a number of skilled msh musicians, who
in conference with the native bards reformed the instru-
mental music of the Welsh.*
But the strongest evidence of all — evidence quite
conclusive as regards the particular period — is that of
Giraldus Cambrensis, who seldom had a good word for
anything Irish. He heard the Irish harpers in 1185, and
gives his experience as follows : — ' They are incomparably
more skilful than any other nation I have ever seen. For
their manner of playing on these instruments, unlike that
of the Britons (or Welsh) to which I^am accustomed, is
not slow and harsh, but lively and rapid, while the melody
is both sweet and sprightly. It is astonishing that in so
complex and rapid a movement of the fingers the musical
proportions [as to time] can be preserved; and that
throughout the difficult modulations on their various
instruments, the harmony is completed with such a sweet
rapidity. They enter into a movement and conclude it
in so delicate a manner, and tinkle the little strings so
sportively under the deeper tones of the base strings —
they delight so delicately and soothe with such gentleness,
that the perfection of their art appears in the concealment
of art.' 2
For centuries after the time of Giraldus music con-
tinued to be cultivated uninterruptedly, and there must
have been an unbroken succession of great professional
harpers. That they maintained their ancient pre-eminence
down to the seventeenth century there is abundant evi-
dence, both native and foreign, to prove. Among those
who were massacred with Sir John Birmingham, in 1328,
was the blind harper Mulrony Mac Carroll, ' chief minstrel
of Ireland and Scotland,' ' of whom it's reported that no
man in any age ever heard, or shall hereafter hear, a
better timpanist (harper).' ^
The Scotch writer John Major, early in the' sixteenth
» Hanis's Ware^ii. 184. « Top. Hib. iii. 11.
» Four Masteri, A.D. 1328, note w.
\
96 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Paut I.
century, speaks of the Irish as most eminent in the musical
art. Richard Stanihurst (1584) mentions in terms of
rapturous praise an Irish harper of his day named Cruise ;
and Drayton (1613) has the following stanza in his
' Polyolbion ' : —
'The Irish I admire
And still cleave to that lyre,
As our Muse's mother;
And think till I expire,
Apollo's such another.'
The great harpers of those times are, however, mostly
lost to history. It is only when we arrive at the seven-
teenth century that we begin to be able to identify certain
composers as the authors of existing airs. The oldest
harper of great eminence coming within this description
is Rory Dall (bliiid) O'Cahan, who, although a musician
from taste and choice, was really one of the chiefs of the
Antrim family of O'Cahan. He was the composer of
many fine airs, some of which we still possess. He
visited Scotland with a retinue of gentlemen about the
year 1600, where he died after a short residence.
Thomas O'Connallon was bom in the county Sligo
early in the seventeenth century. He seems to have been
incomparably the greatest harper of his day, and composed
many exquisite airs. We have still extant a short and
very beautiful Irish ode in praise of his musical per-
formances written by some unknown contemporary bard,
which has been several times trpwnslated. After his death,
which happened in or about 1700, his brother Laurence
travelled into Scotland, where he introduced several of
the great harper's compositions.
A much better known personage was Turlogh O'Carolan
or Carolan : bom in Nobber, county Meath, about 1670 :
died in 1738. He became blind in his youth from an
attack of smallpox, after which he began to learn the harp ;
and ultimately he became the greatest Irish musical
composer of modem times. Like the bards of old he was
a poet as well as a musician. Many of his Irish songs are
published in * Hardiman's Irish Minstrelsy ' and elsewhere.
A large part of his musical compositions are preserved.
Chap. XI. MUSIC 97
and may be found in various published collections of
Irish airs. Carolan belonged to a respectable family, and
like Rory Dall, became a professional musician from taste
rather than from 'necessity. He always travelled about
with a pair of horses, one for himself and the other for
his servant who carried his harp; and he was received
and welcomed everywhere by the gentry, Protestant as
well as Catholic.
The harp is the earliest musical instrument mentioned
in Irish literature. It was called Crot or Cmit, and was
of various sizes, from the small portable hand harp to the
great bardic instrument six feet high. It was commonly
furnished with thirty strings, but sometimes had many
more ; and it was always played with the fingers or finger
nails. Several harps of the old pattern are still preserved
in museums in Dublin and elsewhere, the most interesting
of which is the one now popularly known as Brian Boru's
harp in Trinity College, Dublin. This is the oldest harp
in Ireland — probably the oldest in existence. Yet it did
not belong to Brian Boru; for Dr. Petrie^ htks shown
that it could not have been made before the end of the
fourteenth century. It is small, being only thirty-two
inches high ; it had thirty strings ; and the ornamentation
and general workmanship are exquisitely beautiful.
The Irish had a small stringed instrument called a
Timpan, which had only a few stritags — from three to eight.
It was played with a bow or plectrum, and the strings
were probably stopped with the fingers of the left hand
like those of a violin. The bagpipe was known in Ireland
from very early times: the form used was that nnfw**-
commonly known as the Highland pipes — slung from the ^^^ ,
shoulder, the bag inflated by the mouth. Th# .4)ther ^
form — resting on the lap, the bag inflated by a bellows>^
which is much the finer instrument, is of modem invention.
The bagpipe was in very general use, but it was only the
lower classes that played on it : the harp was the instru-
ment of the higher classes, among whom harp-playing
was a very usual accomplishment. Crofbon Croker tells
' In his memoir of this harp : Banting, Anc. Mus.of Irel. 1840, p. 42..
H
98
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt t
us that in the 18th century almost everyone [of the better
classes] played on the Irish harp. The harp, the timpan,
and the bagpipe were the principal musical instruments
of the ancient Irish ; but several others, such as the war
trumpet, bells, &c., are mentioned in our old records.
Many specimens of ancient war trumpets and bells are
preserved in the National Museum, Dublin.
The early history of music in Ireland is yery obscure ;
and what makes it all the more so is the fact that music
and poetry are often confounded, so that one sometimes
finds it impossible to determine to which of the two the
passages under notice refer. The confusion no doubt
arose from the circumstance that the same man was
formerly often both poet and musician. Music is indeed
often specially mentioned, but always very vaguely ; and
the airs that tradition has handed down to us are almost
the only means we have of forming an opinion of the state
of musical education in those old times.
There was not in Ireland, any more than elsewhere,
anything like the modem developments of music. If
there was harmony — and that there was seems plainly
proved by the passage in Giraldus — it was of the very
simplest kind, and not brought into much prominence.
There were no such sustained and elaborate compositions
as operas, oratorios, or sonatas. The music of ancient
Ireland consisted wholly of short airs, each with two strains
or parts — seldom more. But these, though simple in
comparison with modem music, were constructed with
such exquisite art that of a large proportion of them it
may be truly said no modem composer can produce airs
of a similar kind to equal them.
The Irish musicians had three styles, the effects of
which the old Irish romance writers describe with much
exaggeration, as the Greeks describe the affects produced
by the harp of Orpheus. Of all three we have well-
marked examples descending to the present day. The
Gann-tree, which incited to merriment and laughter, is
represented by the lively dance tunes and other such
spirited pieces. The GoU-tree expressed sorrow : repre-
Chap. XL MUSIC 99
Bented by the Teeens or death tunes, many of which are
still preserved. The Suan-tree produced sleep. This style
is seen in our lullabies or nurse tunes, of which we have
many beautiful specimens.
The Irish had also what may be called occupation
tunes. The young girls accompanied their spinning with ^
songs — both air and words made to suit the occupation.
The ploughmen encouraged and soothed their horses with
the peculiarly wild and plaintive plough-whistles : and
while the milking girls chanted the sweet melancholy
milking songs, the cows submitted all the more gently in
the milking bawns.. We have still a smith's song which
imitates the sound of the hammers on the anvil, like
Handel's ' Harmonious Blacksmith.' Like the kindred
Scotch, each tribe had a war march which inspirited them
when advancing to battle. Specimens of all these may be
found in the collections of Bunting, Petrie, Joyce, and others.
The music of Ireland, like our ballad poetry, has a con-
siderable tendency to sadness. The greater number of the
keens, lullabies, and plough-whistles, and many of our
ordinary tunes, are in the minor mode, which is essentially
plaintive ; and the same plaintive character is impressed
on many of the major airs by a minor seventh note. This
tendency to sadness was the natural outcome of the
miseries endured by the people during long centuries of
disastrous wars and unrelenting penal laws. But it is a
mistake to suppose that the prevailing character of Irish
music is sad : by far the largest proportion of the airs are
either light-hearted dance tunes or song airs full of energy
and spirit without a trace of sadness.
In early times they had no means of writing down
music; and musical compositions were preserved in the
memory and handed down by tradition from generation
to generation ; but in the absence of written record many
were lost. While we have in our old books the Irish
words of dumerous early odes and lyrics, we know nothing
of the music to which they were sung. It was only in the
1 8th century that people began to collect Irish airs from
singers and players, and to write them down. Some Iqw
H 2
100 MANx\ERS, CUSTOMS. AND INSTITUTIONS Part I,
taint attempts were made early in the century : but later
on more effectual measures were taken. Several meetings
of harpers — the first in 1781 — were held at Granard in
the county Longford, under the patronage and at the
expense of James Dungan, a native of Granard, then living
at Copenhagen. Each meeting was terminated by a ball,
at which prizes were distributed to those who had been
adjudged the best performers. Dungan himself was pre-
sent at the last ball, when upwards of 1,000 guests, as we
are told, assembled.
A few years later, a meeting to encourage the harp
was organised in Belfast by a society of gentlemen under
the leaderehip of Dr. James Mac Donnell. This meeting,
which was held in Belfast in 1792, and which was attended
by almost all the nobility and gentry of the neighbour-
hood, was followed by more practical results than those
held at Granard. The harpers of the whole country had
been invited to attend. But the confiscations, the penal
laws, and the social disturbances of the preceding century
and a half had done their work. The native gentry who
loved music and patronised the harpers were scattered
and ruined, find the race of harpers had almost died out.
Only ten responded to the call, many of them very old and
most of them blind, the decayed representatives of the
great harpers of old. Edward Bunting, a local musician,
was appointed to meet them, and after they had all
exhibited their skill in public, and prizes had been
awarded to the most distinguished, he took down the best
of the airs they played.
This was the origin of Bunting's well known collection
of Irish music. He published three volumes, the first in
1796, the second in 1809, and the third in 1840. Another
collection, edited by George Petrie, was published by
Holden of Dublin about the year 1840. A volume of
Carolan's airs was published by his son in 1747 and
republished by John Lee of Dublin in 1780; but many of
■ Carolan's best airs are omitted from this collection. A
great number of Irish airs were printed in four volumes of
a Dublin periodical called 'The Citizen' in 1840 and
Chap. XI. MUSIC 101
1841 ; and these were followed up by a special volume of
airs by the editor. In 1844 was published ' The Music of
Ireland,' by Frederick W. Homcastle, of the Chapel Royal,
Dublin, a number of airs with accompaniments and Eng-
lish words ; most of these airs had been already published,
but some were then printed for the first time. Among
the latter is one very beautiful 8uani/ree or nurse tune
called 'The Fairies* Lullaby.* In 1855 a large volume
of Irish music hitherto unpublished was edited, under the
auspices of ' The Society for the Preservation and Publica-
tion of the Melodies of Ireland,' by Dr. George Petrie. A
volume of airs never before published was edited by me
in 1873, collected by myself from singers and players
in the course of many years. A second instalment of the
Petrie collection was printed in 1877, edited by F. Hoff-
man. These are the principal original collections of Irish
music extant; other collections are mostly copied from
them. About 1870 Bussell of Dublin issued a large col-
lection Qf Irish airs, edited by Dr. Francis Robinson, with
a good Introduction on Irish Music by George Farquhar
Graham : all the airs in this had been published before.
Later on two volumes of the Dance Music of Ireland was
edited by Mr. R. M. Levey of Dublin j some of which then
appeared for the first time. x
The man who did most in modem times to draw atten-
tion to Irish music was Thomas Moore. He composed his
exquisite songs to old Irish airs ; and songs and airs were
published in successive numbers or volumes, beginning in
1807. They at once became popular, not only in the
British Islands, but on the Continent and in America, and
Irish music was thenceforward studied and admired where
it would have never been heard of but for Moore. The
whole collection of songs and airs — well known as * Moore's
Melodies ' — is now published in one small cheap volume.
In the first half of the nineteenth century a great number of
original songs were written by Samuel Lover, nearly all
to old Irish airs. The ' Spirit of the Nation ' contains a good
many old Irish airs with words from the ' Nation ' news-
paper, Diublin. A volume of most characteristic Irish
102 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIOXS Pabt I.
popular songs composed by Alfred Perceval Graves was
published in 1882 to Irish airs already elsewhere pub-
lished, the music arranged by C Villiers Stanford.
We know the authors of many of the airs composed
within the last 200 years: but these form the smallest
portion of the whole body of Irish music. All the rest
have come down from old times, scattered fragments of
exquisite beauty, that remind us of the refined musical
culture of our forefathers. To this last class belong such
well known airs as Savourneen Dheelish, Shule Aroon,
Molly Asthore, The Boyne Water, Garryowen, Patrick's
Day, Eileen Aroon, Langolee (Dear Harp of my Country),
The Groves of Blarney (The Last Eose of Summer), &c.,
&c. To illustrate what is here said, I may mention that
of about 120 Irish airs in all 'Moore's Melodies,' we know
the authors of less than a dozen : as to the rest, nothing is
known either of the persons who composed them or of the
times of their composition.
As the Scotch of the western coasts and islands of
Scotland were the descendants of Irish colonists, preserv-
ing the same language and the same traditions, and as the
people of the two countries kept up intimate intercourse
with each other for many centuries, the national music of
Scotland is, as might be expected, of much the same
general character as that of Ireland. The relationship of
Irish and Scotch music may be stated as follows. There
is in Scotland a large body of national melodies, composed
by native musicians, airs that are Scotch in every sense,
and not found in Irish collections. In Ireland there is a
much larger body of airs, acknowledged on all hands to be
purely Irish, and not found in Scotch collections. But
outside of these are great numbers of airs common to the
two countries, and included in both Scotch and Irish col-
lections. In regard to a considerable proportion of them,
it is now impossible to determine whether they are origin-
ally Irish or Scotch. A few are claimed in Ireland that
are certainly Scotch ; but a very large number claimed by
Scotland are really Irish, of which the well known air
* Eileen Aroon ' or ' Robin Adair ' is an example.
Chap XL MUSIC 103
From the earliest times it was a common practice
among the Irish harpers to travel through Scotland. How
close was the musical connection between the two countries
is hinted at by the Four Masters, when in recording the
death of Mulrony Mac Carroll tiiey call him the ' chief
minstrel of Ireland and Scotland ' : and there is abundant
evidence to show that this connection was kept up till
towards the end of the 18th century. Ireland was long the
school for Scottish harpers, as it was for those of Wales :
* Till within the memory of persons still living, the^
school for Highland poetry and music was Ireland; and
thither professional men were sent to be accomplished in
these arts.' ^ Such facts as these sufficiently explain why
so many Irish airs have become naturalised in Scotland.
It is not correct to separate and contrast the music of
Ireland and that of Scotland as if they belonged to two
different races. They are in reality an emanation direct
from the heart of one Celtic people ; and they form a body
of national melody superior to that of any other nation in
the world,
CHAPTER XII
ART
[Chief anthorities : Early Christian Art in Ireland ; and Early Christian
Archit. in Ireland, both by Miss Margaret Stokes ; J. 0. Westwood
on the Book of Eells ; Petrie's Round Towers of beland.]
V- 1
Fenwork. In Ireland art was practised in four different
branches : — Ornamentation and illumination of manuscript
books ; metal work ; sculpture ; and building. Art of
every kind reached its highest perfection in the period be-
t^en the end of the ninth and the beginning of the
twelfth century.
The special style of pen ornamentation was quite pecu-
liar to the Celtic people of Ireland ; and it was developed
in the course of centuries by successive generations of
artists who brought it to marvellous perfection. It was
' Jameson's ed. of Letters from the North ef Scotland (1818), vol. ii.
p. 65 note. "^
104
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Pahi L
mainly, though not exclusively, the work of ecclesiastics, "x
and it was executed for the most part in the monasteries.
Its most marked characteristic is interlaced work formed
by bands, ribbons, and cords, which are curved and twisted
and inte^oven in the most intricate way, something like
baaketwork infinitely varied in pattern. These are inter-
mingled and alternated with zigzags, waves, spirals, and
lozenges ; while here and there among the curves are seen
the faces or forms of dragons, serpents, or other strange-
looking animals, their tails or ears or tongues elongated
and woven till they become merged and lost in the general
design. Nothing is done at random : the designs are all
symmetrical. This ornamentation was chiefly used in the
capital letters, which are generally very large: one
capital of the Book of Kells covers a whole page. The
pattern is often so minute and complicated as to require
the laid of a magnifying glass to examine it. The penwork
is throughout illuminated in brilliant colours, which in
several of the old books are even now very little faded after
the lapse of so many centuries.
The Book of Kells, a vellum manuscript of tie Four
Gospels, probably written in the seventh century, is the
most beautifully written Irish book in existence. Each
verse begins with an ornamental capital ; and upon these
capitals, which are nearly all differently designed, the
artist put forth his utmost efforts. Miss Stokes, who has
examined the Book of Kells with great care, thus speaks of
it : — ' No effort hitherto made to transcribe any one page
of this book has the perfection of execution and rich har-
mony of colour which belongs to this wonderful book. It
is no exaggeration to say that, as with the microscopic
works of nature, the stronger the magnifying power
brought to bear upon it, the more is this perfection seen.
No single false interlacement or uneven curve in the
spirals, no faint trace of a trembling hand or wandering
thought can be detected. This is the very passion of
labour and devotion, and thus did the Irish scribe work to
glorify his book.' ^
» Early Christian Arehiteoture in Ireland, p. 127. See p. 18 tupra. ■
«57p
Chap. XIL ART 105
Professor J. 0. Westwood of Oxford, who has ex-
amined the best specimens of ancient penwork all over
Europe, speaks even more strongly. In his little work on
the Book of Kells he writes : — * It is the most astonishing
book of the Four Gospels which exists in the world ' (p. 5) :
' How men could have had eyes and tools to work them
[the designs] out, I am sure I, with all the skill and
knowledge in such kind of work which I have been
exercising for the last fifty years, cannot conceive (p. 10).
I know pretty well all the libraries in Europe where such
books as this occur, but there is no such book in any of
them . . . there is nothing like it in all the books which
were written for Charlemagne and his immediate suc-
cessors' (p. 11).
Speafingof the minute intricacy and faultless execution
of another Irish book, Mr. Westwood says: — 'I have
counted [with a magnifying glass] in a small space scarcely
three quarters of an inch in length by less than half an
inch in width, in the Book of Armagh, no less than 158
interlacements of a slender ^bbon pattern formed of white
lines edged with black ones.' The Book of Durrow and
the Book of Armagh, both in Trinity College, are splendidly
ornamented and illuminated ; and of the latter, some por-
tions of the penwork surpass even the finest parts of the
Book of Kells.i
Giraldus Cambrensis, when in Ireland in 1185, saw a
copy of the Four Gospels in St. Brigit's nunnery in Kil-
dare which so astonished him that he has recorded — in a
separate chapter of his book — a legend that it was written
under the direction of an angel. His description would
exactly apply now to the Book of Kells. * Almost every
page is illustrated by drawings illuminated with a variety
of brilliant colours. In one page you see the countenance
of the Divine Majesty supernaturally pictured ; in another
the mystic forms of the evangelists : here is depicted the
' Many of the most beautiful pages and letters of the Book of Kells,
as well as of numerous dther ancient Irish manuscripts, have been re-
produced by Dr. John T. Gilbert in the Facnmilen of National Manu-
icripts of Ireland, a most valoable work in 5 vols, which may be seen in
all the public libraries.
103 MANNERS, CUSTOMS. AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt L
eagle, there the calf: here the face of a man, there of a
lion ; with other figures in almost endless variety. . . .
You will find them [the pictures] so delicate and exquisite,
so finely drawn, and the work of interlacing so elaborate,
while the colours with which they are illuminated are so
blended, that you will be ready to assert that all this is the
work of angelic and not of human skill.' *
The early Irish missionaries brought their arts of writing
and illuminating wherever they went, and taught them to
others ; and to this day numerous exquisite specimens of
their skill and taste are preserved in the libraries of Eng-
land, France, Germany, and Italy.
Metal work. The pagan Irish, like the ancient
Britons, practised from time immemorial — long before
the introduction of Christianity — the art of working in
bronze, silver, gold, and enamel. Some of the antique
Irish articles of metal, believed to have been made in
pagan times, show great mastery over metals, and ex-
quisite skill in design and execution. This primitive art
was continued into Christian times, and being improved
and enlarged by the knowledge imported from Gaul by
St, Patrick's companion missionaries, was brought to its
highest perfection in the tenth and eleventh centuries.
It continued long after, but gradually declined owing to the
general disorganisation of society in Ireland.
The ornamental designs of metal work were generally
similar to those used in manuscripts, and the execution
was distinguished by the same exquisite skill and masterly
precision. The principal articles made by the artists — who
were chiefly but not exclusively ecclesiastics — were crosses ;
croziers ; chalices ; bells ; brooches ; shrines or boxes to hold
books or bells or relics; and book satchels, in which the two
materials, metal and leather, were used. Specimens of all
these — many of t^em of the most remote antiquity — may
be seen in the National Museum in Dublin. The three
most remarkable, as well as the most beautiful and most
elaborately ornamented objects in this museum are the
Cross of Cong, the Ardagh chalice, and the Tara brooch.
* To^. Bib. ii. zzzviiL Bohn's translation.
Chkt.XTL AliT 107
The chalice, which is 7 inches high and 9^ inches in dia-
meter, was found a few years ago buried in the ground
under a stone in old lis at Ardagh, in the county Limerick.
Beyond this nothing is known of its history. It is elabo-
rately ornamented with designs in metal and enamel ; and,
judging from its shape and from its admirable workman-
ship, it was probably made some short time before the
tenth century.
The Tara brooch was found in 1850 by a child on the
strand near Drogheda. It is ornamented all over with
amber, glass, and enamel, and with the characteristic Irish
filigree or interlaced work in metal. From its style of
workmanship it seems obviously contemporaneous with
the Ardagh chalice. In the old Irish romances we con-
stantly read that the mantle of both men and women was
fastened at the throat by a large ornamental brooch. Many
of these old brooches are preserved, but the one now under
notice is by far the most perfect and beautiful of all.
The cross of Cong, which is 2 feet 6 inches high, was
a processional cross, made to enshrine a piece of the true
cross. It is all covered over with elaborate ornamentation
of pure Celtic design, and a series of inscriptions in the
Irish language along the sides give its full history. It
was made by order of Turlogh O'Conor king of Connaught,
for the church of Tuam, then governed by Archbishop
Muredach O'Dufly. The artist, who finished his work in
1123, and who deserves to be remembered to all time, was
Mailisa Mac Braddan O'Hechan.
A great variety of gold ornaments may be seen in the
National Museum, many of beautiful workmanship. There
are several torques, all pure gold, one of which — found at
Tara — is 5 feet 7 inches in length 'and weighs 27^ oz.
There are curious crescent-;shaped ornaments of thin gold,
hollow globes, and numerolis specimens of ' ring money,'
as they are called for want of a better name. The torques
were worn round the neck, but of most of the other articles
the uses amilnknown.
Scnlptm'e. Artistic sculpture is chiefly exhibited in
the great stone crosses, of which about forty-five still
109
MAKNTIRS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Paot I
remain in various parts of Ireland. One peculiarity of thf*
Celtic cross is a circular ring round the intersection, bind-
ing the arms together, and supposed to symbolise eternity.
Thirty-two of the forty-five existing crosses are richly
ornamented, and eight have inscriptions with names of
persons who have been identified as living at various times
from A.D. 904 to 1150. Miss Stokes gives the dates of
the stone crosses as extending over a period from the tenth
to the thirteenth century inclusive. Besides the orna-
mentation, most of the high crosses contain groups of
figures representing various subjects of sacred history,
such as the Crucifixion, the fall of man, Noah in the ark,
the sacrifice of Isaac, the fight of David and Goliath, &c.
The ornamentation is still of the same general Celtic
character that we find in metal work and in illuminated
manuscripts, and it exhibits the same masterly skill and
ease both in design and execution.
CHAPTER Xni
DWELLINGS, FORTRESSES, ECCLESIASTICAL BUILDINGS
[Chief aathorities : — Miss Stokes's Early Christian Architecture in
Ireland ; Petrie, Bound Towers ; O'Curry, Mann, and Cust. with
Sullivan's Introduction ; Heating's History of Ireland.]
Dwellings and fortresses. Before the introduction of
Christianity buildings of every kind in Ireland were almost
universally round. The quadrangular shape, which was
first used in the churches in the time of St. Patrick, came
very slowly into use ; and round-shaped structures finally
disappeared only in the thirteenth or fourteenth century.
The dwelling-houses were almost always of wood. The
wall was formed of strong posts, with the intervening
spaces filled with wickerwork, plastered, and oflen
whitened or variously coloured : the roofs of the circular
houses were conical, supported by a central pillar, and
thatched. Sometimes the walls were made of hewn planks
instead of wickerwork. Occasionally these timber houses
CuAP. XIIL DWELLINGS, FORTRESSES 109
were oblong : in this case the roof was supported by one
or two rows of pillars.
Like the houses of the Anglo-Saxons, the Germans,
and the Scandinavians of the same period, the Irish, dwell-
ing-house had only one large room — at least for the men—
which was used for living, eating, and sleeping in. Round
the walls inside were sleeping-couches, separated by
boarded partitions ; and seats for ordinary use. The seats
for the people of the several ranks, from the chief down,
were specified with much particularity ; and a person of
one rank dared not occupy the seat for one of another
rank. The fire was placed somewhere near the middle of
the floor. There were windows protected by shutters with
bars. In the houses of the better classes the doorposts
and other special parts of the dwelling and furniture were
often made of yew, carved and ornamented with gold,
silver, bronze, and gems. We know this from the old
records ; and still more convincing evidence is afforded by
the Brehon law, which prescribes fines for scratching or
otherwise disfiguring the posts or lintels of doors, the
heads or posts of beds, or the ornamental parts of
other furniture.
The homestead of an aire or chief consisted of a group
of houses, each under a separate roof, the principal one for
the dwelling, the rest outhouses for servants, cows, horses,
pigs, &c. The women had often separate apartments or
a separate house in the sunniest and pleasantest part of
the homestead : this was called the Grianan [greenan], i.e.
sunny house.
The homesteads had to be fenced in to protect them
from robbers and wild animals. This was done by digging
a deep circular trench, the clay from which was thrown up
on the inside. Thus was formed all round, a high mound
or dyke with a trench outside : one opening was lefb for a
door or gate. Whenever water was at hand the trench
was flooded as an additional security. The ancient houses
of the Gauls were fenced round in a similar manner.
Houses built and fortified in the manner here described
continued in use till the thirteenth or fourteenth century.
110
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Patit L
These old circulai* forts are found in every part of
Ireland, but more in the south and west than elsewhere,
many of them still very perfect — but of course the timber
houses are all gone. Almost all are believed in popular
superstition to be the haunts of fairies. They are known
by various names, Lis, Rath, Br ugh [broo], Dun, Gashel, and
Caher — the cashels and cahers being usually built of
stone. These are the very names found in the oldest
manuscripts. Some forts are very large — 300 feet or more
across — so as to give ample room for the group of timber
houses, or for the cattle at night. The smaller forts were
the residences of the farmers. Very often the flat middle
space is raised to a higher level than the surrounding land,
and sometimes there is a great mound in the centre, with
a flat top, on which no doubt the strong house of the chief
stood. In the very large forts there are often three or
more great circumvallations. A Dun was the residence of
a Bi [ree] or king : according to law it should have at
least two surrounding walls with water between. Round
the great forts of kings or chiefs were grouped the
timber dwellings of the fudirs and other dependents who
were not of the immediate household, forming a sort of
village.
In most of the forts, both large and small, whether
with flat areas or with raised mounds, there are under-
ground chambers, commonly beehive shaped, which were
probably used as storehouses, and in case of sudden attacK^
as places of refuge for women and children. The Irish
did not then know the use of mortar or how to build an
arch any more than the ancient Greeks ; and these under-
ground chambers are of dry stone work, built with much
rude skill, the dome being formed by the projection of
one stone beyond another, till the top was closed in by a
single flag.
Where stone was abundant the surrounding rampart
was often built of dry masonry, the stones being fitted
with great exactness. In some of these structures the
stones are very large, and then the style of building is
termed cyclopean. Many great stone fortresses still re-
Chap. XIU. DWELLINGS, FORTRESSES 111
main near the coasts of Sligo, Galway, Clare, and Kerry,
and a few in Antrim and Donegal : two characterstic
examples are Greenan-Ely, the ancient palace of the kings
of the northern Hy Neills, five miles north-west from
Londonderry; and Staigue Fort near Sneem in Kerry.
The most magnificent fortress of this kind in all Ireland is
Dun Aengus on a perpendicular cliff right over the Atlantic
Ocean on the south coast of Great Aran Island.
Beside the djiin or lis there was a level space, fenced in,
called a faithche [faha] or .lawn for athletic exercises and
games of various kinds, into which also the cattle might
be driven at night. Every chief above a certain rank was
bound by the Brehon law to keep a candle and a fire
always burning at night so as to be ready for the reception
of visitors. He was also bound to keep a signal fire
blazing on the faha on dark nights for the guidance of
travellers to his house ; and to have a signal of some kind —
generally a blaze — beside a river as a guide to a ford, if he
lived near one.
For greater security dwellings were often constructed
on artificial islands made with stakes, trees, and bushes,
in shallow lakes : these are called crannoges. Communi-
cation with the shore was carried on by means of a rude
boat kept on the island. Crarinoge dwellings were in very
general use in the time of Elizabeth ; and the remains of
many of them are still to be seen in our lakes.
The Irish had no walled or fortified towns. There
were some considerable centres of population — towns or
cities they might be called — which grew up chiefly round
monasteries ; but they were quite open and unprotected.
The Irish learned the art of fortifying towns from the
Danes and English. There was not much tendency
to concentrate populations : Sir John Davies states that
in 1607 there was not one fixed village in all the county
Fermanagh.^
Churches. From the time of St. Patrick downwards,
churcheswere built, the greater number of wood, but manyof
stone. The early churches built on the model of those intro-
> Letter to Lord SaUsOury, ed. 1787, p. 261.
112 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part T,
duced by St. Patrick, were small and plain, seldom more than
sixty feet long, sometimes not more than fifteen, always a
simple oblong in shape, never cruciform. Some of the very
small ones were oratories for private or family devotions.
The primitive stone churches, erected in the fifth, sixth,
and seventh centuries, are simple oblongs, small and rude.
As Christianity spread, the churches became gradually
larger and more ornamental, and a chancel was often added
at the east end, which was another oblong, merely a con-
tinuation of the larger building. The jambs of both doors
and windows inclined so that the bottom of the opening
was wider than the top : this shape of door or window is
a sure mark of antiquity. The doorways were commonly
constructed of very large stones, with almost always a
horizontal lintel : the windows were often semicircularly
arched at top, but sometimes triangular headed. The
remains of little stone churches of this antique pattern,
of ages from the fifth century to the tenth or eleventh, are
still to be found all over Ireland.
In the beginning of the eleventh century what is called
the Romanesque style of architecture, distinguished by a
profusion of decoration — a style that had previously been
spreading over Europe — was introduced into Ireland. Then
the churches, though still small and simple in plan, began
to be richly decorated. We have remaining numerous
churches in this style : a beautiful example is Cormac's
chapel on the Rock of Cashel, erected in 1134 by Cormac
Mac Carthy king of Munster. In early ages churches
were often in groups of seven, a custom still commemorated
in popular phraseology, as in 'The Seven Churches of
Glendalough.*
Bound towen. In connection with many of the
ancient churches there were round towers of stone from
60 to 150 feet high, and from 13 to 20 feet in external
diameter at the base : the top was conical. The interior
was divided into six or seven stories reached by ladders
from one to another, and each story was lighted by one
window : the top story had usually four windows. The
door was placed 10 or more feet from the ground outside,
■ ■ /
Chaf. Xm. ECCLESIASTICAL BUILDINGS 113
and was reached by a ladder : both doors and windows
had sloping jambs like those of the churches. About 80
round towers still remain, of which about 20 are perfect :
the rest are more or less imperfect.
Formerly there was much speculation as to the uses of
these round towers ; but Dr. George Petrie, after examin-
ing the towers themselves, and — with the help of O'Dono-
van and O'Curry — searching through all the Irish litera-
ture within his reach for allusions to them, set the ques-
tion at rest in his Essay on ' The Origin and Uses of the
Round Towers.* It is now known that they are of Chris-
tian origin, and that they were always built in connection
with ecclesiastical establishments. They were erected at
various times from about the ninth to the thirteenth cen-
tury. They had at least a twofold use : as belfries, and as
keeps to which the inmates of the monastery retired with
their valuables — such as books, shrines, croziers, relics,
and vestments — in case of sudden attack. They were
probably used also — when occasion required — as beaconu
and watch-towers. These are Dr. Petrie's conclusions,
except only that he fixed the date of some few in the fifth
century, which recent investigations have shown to be too
early. It would appear that it was the frequency of the
Danish incursions that gave rise to the erection of the
round towers, which began to be built in the ninth cen-
tury simultaneously all over the country. They were
admirably suited to the purpose of aflibrding refuge from
tlie sudden murderous raids of the Norsemen: for the
inmates could retire with their valuables on a few minutes'
warning, with a good supply of large stones to drop on the
robbers from the windows ; and once they had drawn up
the outside ladder and barred the door, the tower was, for
a short attack, practically impregnable. Round towers
are not quite peculiar to Ireland : about 22 are found else-
where— in Bavaria, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Scotland,
and other countries.
Later Churches. Until about the period of the Anglo-
Ni^rinan invasion all the churches were small because the
congregations were small, and this again chiefly resulted
1
114 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTldNS PTkt L
from the tribal organisation which had a tendency to split up
all society whether lay or ecclesiastical, into small sections.
But the territorial system of church organisation, which
tended to large congregations, was introduced about the time
of the Invasion. The Anglo-Normans were as we know
great builders, and about the middle of the twelfth century
the simple old Irish style of church architecture began,
through their influence, to be abandoned. Towards the
close of the century, when many of the great English lords
had settled in Ireland, they began to indulge their taste
for architectural magnificence, and the native Irish chiefs
imitated and emulated them ; large cruciform churches in
the pointed style began to prevail ; and all over the country
splendid buildings of every kind sprang up. Then were
erected — some by the English, some by the Irish — those
stately abbeys and churches of which the ruins are still
to be seen, such as those of Kilmallock and Mannistera-
nenagh in Limerick ; Jerpoint in Kilkenny ; Grey Abbey
in Down ; Bective and Newtown in Meath ; Sligo ; Quin
and Corcomroe in Clare ; Ballintober in Mayo ; Knockmoy
in Gal way; Dunbrody in Wexford; Buttevantj Cashel ;
and many others.
CHAPTER XIV
VARIOUS CUSTOMS
[Chief anthorities : Girald. Cambr. Top. Hib. ; Lynch's Cambrensis
Eversos ; Harris's Ware ; Spenser's View of the State of Irel. ed.
1809; Book of Rights, Introd. ; Joyce's Irish Names of Places;
Petrie's Tara ; O'Corty's Lect. on MS. Mat. and on Mann, and Cost.]
Arms and axmonr. The Irish employed two kinds of
foot-soldiers : Oallaglachs or Galloglasses and Kern. The
galloglasses were heavy-armed infantry; the mode of
equipping them appears to have been imitated from the
English. They wore a coat of mail and an iron helmet : a
long sword hung by the side, and in the hand was carried
a broad heavy keen-edged axe. They are usually de-
pcribed as large-limbed, tall, and fierce-looking. The
corselet was known in very early times, but seldom used.
CitAP. XIV. VARIOUS CUSTOMS ' 115
The use of armour was imitated in a measure from the
Danes, but chiefly from the English ; at the time of the
Invasion the Irish wore no armour. They never took to it
very generally, but preferred to fight in saffron linen
tunics : ' They go to battle without armour, considering it
a burden, and deeming it brave and honourable to fight
without it,' ' which lost them many a battle. The kern
were light-armed foot soldiers : they wore headpieces,
and fought with a skean, i.e. a dagger or short sword, and
with a javelin attached to a thong.* j
*It is curious that bows and arrows are very
seldom mentioned in our old writings : and the passages
that' are supposed to refer to them are so indistinct,
that if we had no other evidence it might be difficult
to prove that the use of the bow was known at all to the
ancient Irish. However the matter is placed beyond dis-
pute by the fact that flint arrow-heads are found in the
ground in various parts of the country.'' They retained
the use of bows and arrows to a late period. Spenser
mentions 'their short bowes and little quivers, with
bearded arrowes. And the same sort both of bowes,
quivers, and arrowes are at this day to be seen among the
Northerne Irish-Scots.'*
They used two kinds of shields. One made of wicker-
work, often large enough to cover the whole body, convex
outwards, and covered, like the old Greek ghields, with
layers of hardened hide. Spenser mentions ' their long
broad shields, made but with wicker roddes.* * The other
was a small circular shield generally made of yew wood,
sometimes of bronze. Shields of both kinds were often
elaborately ornamented. Specimens of the small round
shield may be seen in the National Museum in Dublin.
The Irish were very dexterous in the use of the battle-
axe. Giraldus Cambrensis says : — ' They make use of but
one hand to the axe when they strike, and extend the
thumb along the handle to guide the blow : from which
' Girald. Top. Hib. iii. x. * Harris's Wa/re, ii. 161.
" See my Irish Names of Placet, vol. ii. chap, xi
* View of the State of Ireland, p. 95. » Ibid. 96.
i2
116 MANNERS. CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Part L
neither the crested helmet can defend the head, nor the
iron folds of the armour the rest of the body. From
whence it has happened, even in our times, that the whole
thiffh of a soldier, though cased in well-tempered armour,
hatn been lopped off by ^ single blow of the axe, the
whole limb falling on one side of the horse, and the
expiring body on the other.' '
Ancient weapons of three different materials are found
in every part of Ireland :— of stone, of bronze, and of iron
and steel. In the National Museum in Dublin there is a
large collection of all three kinds. The stone implements
are hammers and axes, and flint arrow-heads, spear-heads,
and knives. Those of bronze are chiefly axes, spear-heads,
and swords, all beautifully formed. The weapons of stone
are in general much older than those of bronze, and
belong to a period beyond the reach of history : the bronze
weapons come within the domain of our ancient literature.
Those of iron and steel, which are chiefly swords, daggers,
and spears, belong to a comparatively late period: the
axes spoken of by Giraldus were steel.
Spenser praises the Irish soldiers: 'They are very
valiaunt, and hardie, for the most part great indurers of
colde, labour, hunger, and all hardnesse, very active and
strong of hand, very swift of foot, very vigilant and
circumspect in their enterprises, very present in perils,
very great vomers of death.' 'I have heard some great
warriours say, that in all the services which they had seen
abroad in forraigne countreyes they never saw a more
comely man than the Irishman nor that commeth in more
bravely to his charge.' ' Froissart's testimony is perhaps
stronger : * No man at arms, be he ever so well mounted,
can overtake them, they are so light of foot. Sometimes
they leap from the ground behind a horseman and embrace
the rider so tightly that he can no way get rid of them.' '
The French gentleman Castide who gave the account of the
Irish to Froissart, was himself taken prisoner in this way
by the Irish chief whose daughter he afterwards married.
' Tip Hii., Dist. iii , chap. x. Bohn's Translation.
' Spenser, Viem, 1 16, liU * Johaea's JfWistart, it. 578.
Chap. XIV. VARIOUS CUSTOMS 117
Cavalry were not much used in ancient Ireland : for
example we do not find them mentioned in the battle of
Clontarf. But from the earliest times individual chiefs
and other distinguished persons were in the habit of
riding on horseback, and they were very particular in the
choice of their horses. They rode without saddle, stirrup,
or spur. After the Invasion cavalry came into general use.
Each horseman had at least one footman to attend him —
called a giila or daUeen — armed only with a dart or javelin
having a long thong attached. Sometimes a horse soldier
had two or three dalteens.
Chariots. Our literature affords unquestionable evi-
dence that chariots were used in Ireland from the most
remote ages. In the ancient historical tales, the chiefs
are constantly described as going to battle in war-chariots,
each driven by an arar or charioteer : and we know from
the Lives of the early saints that Patrick, Bridget, Colum-
kille, Declan, and other Irish saints, travelled in two-
horse chariots in their missionary journeys through the
country. The war-chariots are sometimes described as
furnished with sharp spikes and scythe-blades like those of
the old Britons : while in times of peace, kings, queens,
and chiefs of high rank rode in chariots luxuriously fitted
up and ornamented with gold, silver, and feathers.*
Eoads. That the country was well provided with
roads we know, partly from our ancient literature, and
partly from the general use of chariots. There were five
main roads leading from Tara through the country in
different directions ; and numerous minor roads — all with
distinct names — are mentioned in the annals. Tliere
must have been roads everywhere in the inhabited
districts : for we know that provision was made in the
Brehon law for repairing them. And it was enjoined that
a brugaid or public victualler should have roads leading
from different.directions to his house.
Boats. The ancient Irish used three kinds of boats : —
small sailing vessels; canoes hollowed out from the
trunks of trees ; and currachs. The currach was made of
> See Cambr. Evert, chap. xii.
118 MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Paht L
wickerwork covered with hides : some currachs had a
double hide-covering, some a triple. These boats are
constantly mentioned in lay as well as in ecclesiastical
literature ; and they are used still round the coasts, but
tarred canvas is employed instead of skins.
Dress. In ordinary life the men wore a large frieze
mantle or overall which covered them down to the ankles :
among the rich it was usually of fine cloth, often variegated
with scarlet and other colours. Their trousers were very
tight fitting : the harread or hat was cone-shaped and
without a leaf. The women wore saffron-coloured tunics,
with many folds and much material — sometimes more than
a dozen yards. The married women wore a kerchief on the
head : the unmarried girls went bareheaded.
Mills. Water mills were known from very remote
ages, and were more common in ancient than in modern
times. *We know from the Lives of the Irish saints that
several of them erected mills where they settled, shortly
after the introduction of Christianity. Water mills are
mentioned in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, showing
that they were in use before his time : and it appears
certain that they were introduced as early as the time of
Cormac Mac Art in the third century.' A small mill was
a usual appendage to a hallybetagh or ancient townland ;
it was not owned by an individual, but was held in
common by a number of persons of the richer classes.
Mills are often mentioned in grants and charters of the
eleventh and twelfth centuries ; and laws relating to them
are laid down in detail in the Brehon code. In most
houses there was a quern or handmill, and the use of it
was part of the education of every woman of the working
class. The quern continued in use until very recently
both in Ireland and Scotland.
Surnames. Hereditary family names became general
in Ireland about the time of Brian Boru, viz. in the end of
the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh century : and
some authorities assert that they were adopted in obe-
dience to an ordinance of that monarch. The manner of
' Petrie's Tara, 164.
Chap. XIV. VARIOUS CUSTOMS 119
forming the names was very simple. Each person had
one proper name of his own. In addition to this all the
members of a family took as a common surname the name
of their father, with Mac (son) prefixed, or of their
grandfather or some more remote ancestor, with lui or o
(grandson or descendant) prefixed. Thus the O'Neills are
so called from their ancestor Niall Glunduff king of
Ireland (a.d. 916), and ' John O'Neill' means John the
descendant of NiaU : the Mac Carthys of Desmond have
their surname from a chief named Garrthach, who lived
about the year 1043. The same custom was adopted in
Scotland : but while in Ireland 0 was much more general
than Mac, in Scotland the 0 was very rarely chosen, and
nearly all the Scotch Gaelic family names bf'gin with Ma/;.
Burial. Three modes of disposing of the dead were
practised in ancient Ireland. First mode : the body was
buried as at present. Second : sometimes the body of a
king or warrior was placed standing up in the grave, fully
accoutred and armed : King Laeghaire was buried in this
manner in the rampart of his rath at Tara, with his face
turned towards his foes the Leinstermen. Third : the
body was burned and the ashes were deposited in the
grave in an ornamented um of baked clay. Of the first
two kinds we have historical record ; of the third we have
none; but we know that it was in very general use in
prehistoric times, for urns containing ashes and burnt
bones are found in graves in every part of Ireland.
The body or um was very often enclosed in a sort of
rude stone coffin formed of flags, called a kist or kistvaen,
placed underground near the surface : the bodies of those
that fell in battle were often disposed of in this manner, so
that kistvaens are now found in great numbers on ancient
battlefields. Often that sort of stone monument now
known as a cromlech was constructed, formed of one great
flat stone lying on the tops of several large standing
stones, thus enclosing a rude chamber in which one or
more bodies or nm^ were placed. These cromlechs —
which are sometimes wrongly called druids' altars — remain
in every part of Ireland ; and skeletons, and urns contain-
120 MANNERS. CUSTOMS, AND INSTITUTIONS Past I.
lag burnt bones have been found under many of them.
Sepulchral monuments of the same class are found all over
Europe, and even in India.
Over the grave of any distinguished person it was usual
to heap up a great mound of clay or stones containing,
in or near its centre, a beehive-shaped chamber of dry
masonry communicating with the exterior by a long narrow
passage. The body or urn was placed in the chamber ;
in some chambers, rude shallow stone coffins have been
found. The largest sepulchral mounds in the whole
country are those of Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth, all
on the Boyne, five miles above Drogheda.
A mound of stones raised over a grave is called a cairn.
In old times people had a fancy to bury on the tops of
hills ; and the summits of very many hills in Ireland are
crowned with cairns, under every one of which — in a stone
coffin — reposes some chief renowned in the olden time.
At the burial of every distinguished person there were
funeral games as among the ancient Greeks : cattle were
sometimes slain as part of the ceremonial. Debased traces
of the old funeral rites have come down to our own day
in the customs at wakes and funerals.
Bards. In early ages a man who had mastered the
seventh year's course of study (p. 156) and devoted himself
specially to poetical composition was a bard. The words
hard aadfiU [fiUa] are often understood in the same sense.
In later times the word had commonly a narrower and
lower signification — merely a verse-maker or rhymer.
All the Celtic nations both of the Continent and of the
British Isles had their bards, whom they held in great
estimation. In Ireland the bards were both esteemed and
dreaded ; their praise was eagerly sought after and
liberally rewarded. The poet Erard Mac Cosse relates that
on one occasion he visited Mailroney king of Connaught
(died A.D. 954), who greatly honoured him, and at part-
ing presented him with a chessboard, a sword, fifty cows,
and thirty steeds.* But they were a very irritable race,
and could compose an aer or satire which was believed to
> O'Curry, Mann, and Oust. i. 129.
p. ^..
CnKV. XIV. VARIOUS CUSTOMS 121
have some preternatural influence for mischief, so as to
inflict bodily or mental injury, such as raising blotches ou
the face, &c.
From the earliest times the bards were very numerous ;
and they were so exacting in their claims that they became
an intolerable burden on the people. On three several
occasions it was determined to abolish the order altogether,
but each time they were saved by the intervention of the
king and people of Ulster. The last crisis, which came in
the reign of Hugh Mac Ainmire, was the most dangerous
of all ; when King Hugh, provoked by their insolence, pro-
posed, at the Convention of Drumketta in 574, that the
order should be suppressed and the bards banished ; but
at the intercession of St. Columba a middle course was
adopted. Their number was greatly reduced, and strict
rules were laid down for the regulation of their conduct in
the future. The. ollaves, under the direction of their chief,
Dalian Forgaill, were required to open schools, as described
in Part II. page 155. Lands were assigned for their main-
tenance, and the ollaves who possessed these lands were to
support the inferior bards as teachers, so as to relieve the
people from their exactions. It was on that occasion that
Dalian Forgaill, in gratitude, composed the Amra on St.
Colum'kille, spoken of at page 14. By this wise measure the
bards seemed to have regained the confidence of the people.
After th6 Anglo-Norman invasion the bards were found
by the invaders a great obstacle to the conquest of the
country, as they stirred up the people to resistance by
their spirited lays. Many determined attempts were made
to exterminate them by stringent and cruel enactments,
which it would seem had not much pffect ; for we have
still extant many of their poetical efiusions, written during
the periods of fiercest persecution. -^
Chess. I have already mentioned several of the games
of the ancient Irish : I will here mention one more — chess.
Chess-playing was one of the favourite amusements of the
Irish kings and chiefs, who had always their own chess-
boards and men. In the Will of Cahirmore, king of Ire-
land in the second century, we are told that he bequeathed
122 MANNEllS, CUSTOMS. AND INSTITUTIONS Pabt I
his chessboard and chessmen to his son Oliolt'Kedach ; '
and the game is constantly mentioned in the very oldest
Irish tales, as for instance in the Tain-bo- Quelnd. In the
ancient tale called ' The Courtship of Etain ' in the Book
of the Dun Cow, Midir the fairy king of Bri-leith comes
on a visit to King Achy. ' What brought thee hither ? '
said Achy. ' To play chess with thee,' answered Midir.
' Art thou good at chess ? ' said Achy. ' Let us prove it,'
8ai4 Midir. * The queen is asleep,' said Achy, ' and the
house in which are the chessboard and men belongs to her.'
' Here I have as good a set of chess,' said Midir. That
was true indeed ; for it was a board of silver and pure
gold ; and every angle was illuminated with precious
stones ; and the man-bag was of woven brass wire.
One specimen of a chessman — an ivory king — may be
seen in the National Museum, Dublin.
For further information the reader may consult O'Dono-
van's Introduction to the Book of Rights.
' Book of RighU, p. 201.
123
PART II
lEELAND UNDEB NATIVE BULEB8
(PEOM THE MOST ANCIENT TIMES TO 1172)
In the beginning of this Second Part the narrative is
legendary, like the early accounts of all other nations.
Inasmuch as the legends of early Irish history, apart from
the germ of truth they contain, are interwoven with much
of the romantic and poetical literature of the country, they
ought to be given, more or less briefly, in every history of
Ireland.
This period includes the Danish invasions, which never
broke the continuity of the monarchy in Ireland as
they did in England. It ended about 1172 ; for after
that time there was no longer a supreme native king over
Ireland.
CHAPTER I
THE LEGENDS OF THE EARLY COLONIES*
[Chief authorities for Chaps. I., IL, and IV. : Annals of Four Mast, and
other Irish Annals ; Keating's Hist, of Ireland ; O'Curry's Lect. on
MS. Mat. and on Mann, and Cast. ; Irish Nennius ; O'Flaherty's
Ogygia ; Lynch's Cambrensis Eversus ; Petrie's Tara.]
The Farthalonians : the first colony, a.m. 2520. The first
man that led a colony to Ireland after the flood was a
chief named Parthalon, who came hither from Greece, with
' The whole of this chapter, as the title indicates, is legendary ; aa
much so as the stones oi the Siege of Troy, or of the Seven Kings of
124 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RUIJER3 Pam IL
his wife, his three sons, and 1,000 followers. He was
forced to fly from Greece because he had murdered his
father and mother ; and he took up his abode on the little
island of Inish-Samer in the river Erne, just below the
waterfall of Assaroe at Ballyshannon. Afterwards he and
his followers settled on Moy-Elta, the level district be-
tween Dublin and Ben-Edar or Howth.
But the curse of the parricide pursued the race ; for
at the end of 300 years they were destroyed by a plague,
which carried off 9,000 of them in one week oh Moy-Elta.
The legend relates that they were buried at Tallaght near
Dublin ; and we know that this name Tallaght — or as it is
written in Irish, Tam-lacht — signifies * plague-grave.'
The Hemedians : the second colony, a.m. 2850. After
the destruction of the Parthalonians, Ireland remained a
solitude for 30 years. Then came Nemed from Scythia,
with a fleet of 34 ships. These Nemedians were harassed
by the Fomorian pirates, but Nemed defeated them in
several battles. After some years he and 3,000 of his
followers died of the plague in Oilen-Arda-Nemed (the/
island of Nemed's hill), now the Great Island in Cork
Harbour.
The Fomorians were a race of sea-robbers, who, accord-
ing to some, came originally from Africa. Their two chiefs,
More and Conang, lived in a wonderful fortress-tower called
Tor-Conang, on Tory Island ofi" the coast of Donegal ; and
after the death of Nemed they tyrannised over his people
and made them pay an intolerable yearly tribute of com,
butter, cattle, and chilcbren. So the Nemedians, unable to
Borne. The legends related here, and in the beginning of next chapter,
receive some corroboration from external sources : for example, most of
the sites are known to this day by their old names, and contain remain:^
that exactly correspond with the legends. There is accordingly some
reason to believe that these stories are shadowy memories of real erentn.
But the dates— which are those given by the Four Mastert — are all
faocif al :— no reliance can be placed on them, except that they probably
iudicate the proper order of the events. 0' Flaherty; in his Ogygia, has
very much reduced the antiquity of these pre-Christian Irish dates. It
should be observed tliat the Four Masters, partly following the
heptuHgint, count 5199 year.o from the Creation to the Birth of Chridt,
instead of 4004, the reckoning now (renorally a<.'oepted.
Chap. L LEGENDS OF THE EARLY COLONIES 125
bear their miserable state any longer, rose up in a fury
(A.M. 3066), destroyed Tor-Oonang, and slew Conang him-
self and all his family. But More attacked them soon
after ; and a dreadful battle was fought on the sea beach,
in which nearly all the combatants fell. And those who
were not killed in battle were drowned ; for the com-
batants fought so furiously that they gave no heed to
the advancing tide-wave which rose and overwhelmed
them. Of the Nemedians only the crew of one bark
escaped ; and More and his Fomorians remained masters
of Tory.
Seven years after the battle a part of the Nemedians
fled from Ireland under three chiefs, Simon-Brec, Ibath,
and Britan-Mail. Simon-Brec and his people went to the
north of Greece ; and from them were descended the
Firbolgs. Ibath and his followers, who were the ancestors
of the Dedannans, made their way to that part of Greece
in which the city of Athens is situated. And those who
went with Britan-Mail settled in the north of Alban or
Scotland. The few Nemedians that remained behind
dwelt in Ireland for more than 200 years under the bitter
tyranny of the Fomorians.
The Firbolgs : the third colony, a.m. 3266. The people
of Simon-Brec increased and multiplied in Greece. But
they fared no better there than at home ; for the Greeks
kept them in hard bondage, and forced them to bring soil
on their backs from the rich lowlands to fertilise the rocky
and barren hill-sides. And from the leathern wallets in
which they brought the clay they were called Firbolgs or
bagmen. At length they fled from Greece under the
leadership of the five sons of Dela, who led them to
Ireland. These brothers partitioned the country into five
provinces, Ulster, Leinster, Connaught, and the two
Munsters. This ancient division into provinces has sur-
vived, with some alteration, to the present day (see page 60).
The Firbolgs held sway for only 36 years when chey were
conquered by the next colony.
The Dedannans : the fourth colony, a.m. 3303. Ibath
and his people having settled in the district round Athens,
12G IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Paht II.
learned magic 'from the Greeks till they became more
skilled than their masters. While they dwelt here it
came to pass that the Syrians invaded Greece ; and every
day a battle was fought between the Greeks and the
invaders. Now the Greeks prevailed in these battles
through the necromancy of the Dedannans, who restored
to life, each evening, those Greeks who had been slain
during the day. But the Syrians, having consulted their
druid, found means to defeat the Dedannan spells, and
falling on the Greeks, slaughtered them without mercy.
The Dedannans now dreading the vengeance of the
Syrians, secretly fled from the country, and journeyed
northwards to Lochlann or Scandinavia, where they settled
down for a time. They lived in four cities, and taught
the people of Lochlann arts and sciences. From this they
migrated, under the command of their great chief, Nuada
of the Silver Hand, to the north of Scotland; where
having sojourned for seven years they crossed over to
Ireland (a.m. 3303). They brought with them from Loch-
lann * four precious jewels,' one of which was the wonderful
Coronation Stone called the Lia Fail, which they set up at
Tara, and which remained there ever after.
As soon as they had landed they burned their ships ; and
shrouding themselves in a magic mist, so that the Firbolgs
could not see them, they marched unperceived to Slieve-
an-Ierin Mountain in the present county Leitrim. And
they sent without delay one of their champions to the
Firbolgs with a demand either to yield possession of the
country or fight for it. The Firbolgs chose battle ; and
the two armies fought for four successive days on the plain
of South Moytura near Cong. The Firbolgs were de-
feated, their king was slain, and the Dedannans remained
masters of the island.
The Fomorians still continued to plague the country ;
and twenty-seven years after the battle of South Moy-
tura, a battle was fought between them and the Dedannans
at North Moytura near Sligo, where the Fomorians were
dt^feated and all their chief men slain. The two plains of
Moytura are well known, and both are covered all over
Chap. I. LEGENDS OF THE EARLY COLONIES 127
with mounds, cromlechs, and other sepulchral monu-
ments— the relics of two great battles.
The Milesians: the fifth colony, a.m. 3500. The
legends dwell with fond minuteness on the origin, the
wanderings, and the adventures of this last and greatest of
the Irish colonies. From 8cythia their original home they
began their long pilgrimage. Their first migration was to
Egypt, where they were sojourning at the time that
Pharaoh and his host were drowned in the Red Sea.
Driven from Egypt because they had taken part with
Moses, they went to Crete, where they lived for a time ;
thence back again to Scythia ; and after wandering through
Europe for many generations they arrived in Spain. Here
they abode for a long time; and at last they came to
Ireland with a fleet of thirty ships under the command of
the eight sons of the hero Mil6d or Milesius, and anchored
at the mouth of the river Slaney (a.m. 3500).
At this time the country was governed by three De-
dannan kings, the sons of Kermad of the Honey-mouth,
namely Mac Coill, Mac Kecht, and Mac Grena, whose
three queens, Eir6, Fodla [Fo'la], and Banba, gave their
three names to Ireland. Having been driven out to sea by
the spells of the Dedannans, the Milesians landed a second
time at Inver-Skena or Kenmare Bay. Marching north
to Tara, they met there the three kings and demanded
from them the surrender of the country or battle. The
cunning Dedannans pretended that they had been taken
by surprise and treated unfairly ; and the dispute was
referred to Amergin the chief druid or brehon of the
Milesians. Now this druid delivered a just judgment
even against his own people. He decided that the Mile-
sians should re-embark at Inver-Skena and retire nine
waves from the shore ; and if after this they could make
good their landing, the country should be given up to
them. And to this both parties agreed.
But no sooner had the Milesians got nine waves from
shore than the Dedannans, by their magical incantations,
raised a furious tempest which scattered and wrecked the
fleet along the rocky coasts. Five of the eight brothers
128 ITwELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Part II.
perished, and the remaining three, Eremon, Eber-Finn,
and Amergin, landed with the remnant of their people.
Soon afterwards two battles were fought, one at Slieve
Mish near Tralee, and the other at TaiUtenn, now Teltown
on the Blackwater in Meath, in which the Dedannans were
defeated ; and the Milesians took possession of the country.
The two brothers Eber-Finn and Eremon now (a.m.
8501) divided Ireland, Eber-Finn taking the two Munsters
and Eremon Leinster and Connaught. And they gave
Ulster to their nephew Eber, son of their brother Ir who had
perished in the magic storm. As for Amergin, he, being
a seer, got no land for himself ; but he was made chief
brehon and poet of the kingdom. From that time forward
Ireland was ruled by a succession of Milesian monarchs
till the reign of Roderick O'Conor who was the last native
over-king.
CHAPTER n
THE KINGS OF PAGAN IRELAND*
The brothers Eber-Finn and Eremon had no sooner settled
down in their new kingdoms than they quarrelled and
fought a battle (a.m. 3501) near Geashill, in the present
King's County, in which Eber was defeated and slain, and
Eremon became sole king. By far the greater number of
the Irish pagan kings afber Eremon fell in battle or by
assassination : a few only of the most distinguished need
be noticed here.
Tighemmas [Teernmas], who began his reign
A.M. 3581, was the first of the Irish kings to work gold in
a regular way: it was mined and smelted in a woody
district on the Wicklow side of the river LiflFey. He dis-
tinguished the various classes of his people by the num-
bers of colours in their garments : a slave had one colour ;
' In the early part of this chapter the matters related are legendary,
and the dates, which are taken from the Four Af asters, are quite
untrustworthy. As we approac*i the reign of Laeofhaire [Leary] tliere
is a constantly increasing proportion of ascertained fact in the records,
and the chronology is at least approximately correct.
Chap. H. THE JONGS OF PAGAN IRELAND 129
a peasant had two ; a soldier three ; a hrugaidj or public
hospitaller, four ; a chieftain five ; a king or a queen, and
also an ollave or doctor, six. Tighemmas, we are told,
was miraculously destroyed, with a multitude of his people,
while they were worshipping the great national idol Crom
Cruach on the plain of Moy Slecht in Brefney, on the eve
of the pagan festival ot Samin (p. 89).
The mighty king Ollamh F6dla [Ollav Fola]—
A.M. 3922 — established the Fes or meeting of Tara, where
the nobles and learned men of the kingdom met every
third year for some days before and after Samin or the
first of November, to revise the laws and examine the
historical records ; and their proceedings were entered in
the national record called the Psalter of Tara. ' It was
he also that appointed a chief over every tuath or cantred
and a hrugaid over every townland, who were all to serv&
the king of Ireland.' (Four Masters, a.m. 3922.)
About 300 years before the Christian era,* Macha of
the Golden Hair, the queen of Cimbaeth [Kimbay] king
of Ulster, built the palace of Emania, which for more than
600 years continued to be the residence of the Ulster
kings. Here, in after ages, the Red Branch Knight* were
trained in military accomplishments and deeds of amis.
The foundation of this palace is taken as the starting-point
of authentic Irish history by the annalist Tighemach, who
states that all preceding accounts are uncertain (see p. 28).
Hugony the Great, king of Ireland soon after the
foundation of Emania, divided Ireland into twenty-five
pai-ts among his twenty-five children ; and this subdivision
continued in force for many ages after. *!
Achy Feidlech [Fealagh], who ascended the throne a
little before the Christian era, abolished Hugony 's sub-
division and restored the ancient division into five province*,
over each of which he placed a tributary king. This
monarch built the palace of Croghan for his daughter, the
celebrated Medb [Maive] queen of Connaught, where the
kings of that province afterwards resided.
' The exact time, as determined by Tighemach, is 306 B.C. See
Four Matter*, i. Introd. xlvi.
130 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Pavt IL
According to the most trustworthy accounts the king
who reigned at the time of the Incarnation was Conary 1.,
or Conary the Great. In his time occurred the seven
years' war between Maive queen of Connaught and Conor
Mac Nessa king of Ulster, described at page 37. Conary
was killed by a band of pirates in the palace of Brudin
Daderga on the river Dodder near Dublin.
Some time in the first century of the Christian era the
Attacottic or plebeian races, i.e. the Firbolgs, Dedanuans,
and Fomorians, whom the Milesians had enslaved, rose up
in rebellion, wrested the sovereignty from their masters,
and almost exterminated the Milesian princes and nobles :
after which they chose Carbery Kinncat for their king. But
the Milesian monarchy was after some time restored in the
person of Tuathal [Toohal] the Legitimate, who, returning
from exile, ascended the throne towards the end of the
first century.
This king Taathal took measures to consolidate the
monarchy. Before his time the over-kings had for their
personal estate only a small tract round Tara. But he cut
off a portion from each of the provinces and formed there-
with the province of Meath, to be the special demesne or
estate of the supreme kings of Ireland. This new province
included the present counties of Meath, Westmeath, and
Longford, with portions of the neighbouring counties —
Monaghan, Cavan, King's County, Kildare, &c. In three
ancient assembly places belonging to three of the old pro-
vinces he built palace-forts which remain to this day : —
Tlachtga in Munster, Ushnagh in Connaught, and Taill-
tenn in Ulster^all thenceforward belonging to the new
province (see p. 89). And gathering together the chief
men of the country, he made them swear the solemn old
pagan oath — by the sun and wind and all the elements —
that they would give the sovereignty of Ireland to his
descendants for ever. He celebrated the Fes of Tara with
great state ; and he re-established the three great fairs of
Tlachtga, Ushnagh, and Tailltenn, which he celebrated with
much formality.
At this time Leinster was ruled by a king named Achy
Chap. H. THE KINGS OF PAGAN IRELAND 131
Ainkenn, wto obtaiaed one of king Tuathara daughters
in marriage. But after some time getting tired of her, he
pretended that she was dead and induced the king to give
him his second daughter. Each sister was ignorant of
what had befallen the other; but soon after the second
marriage the two met by accident in the palace, and they
were so overwhelmed with astonishment, grief, and shame,
that they both died immediately. To avenge this great
crime Tuathal marched an army into Leinster, and imposed
an intolerable tribute on the province, to be paid by the
Leinstermen every second year to the kings of Ireland.
Whatever amount of truth may be in this story, one
thing is certain, that the kings of Ireland from very early
times claimed from the Leinstermen an enormous tribute
which was known as the Boruma or Boru. lb was never
paid without resistance more or less, and for many centuries
it was the cause of constant bloodshed. It produced most
disastrous consequences not only on Leinster but on Ireland
at large; for the Leinster kings were at perpetual enmity
with the kings of Ireland ; and we find them taking part
with the enemies of their country at the most critical
periods of her history.
The renowned Conn Ced-Cafhach [Ked-Caha], or Conn
the Hundred-fighter, became king la to in the second
century (a.d. 177). His most formidable antagonist was
the great Munster hero Eoghan-Mor [Owen-More], other-
wise called Mogh-Nuadhat [Mow-Nooat] king of Munster,
who having defeated him in ten battles, forced him at last
to divide Ireland between them. For a line of demarca-
tion they fixed on a natural ridge of sandhills called Esker-
Riada, which can still be traced running across Ireland
with little interruption fi-om Dublin to Galway. This
division is perpetually referred to in Irish literature : the
northern half, which belonged to Conn was called Lfth-
Ghuinn [Leh-Conn] or Conn's half; and the southern Leth-
Mogha [Leh-Mow], that is Mogh's half. Owen however
renewed the quarrel, and was slain in a decisive battle
fought at Moylena in the present King's County; after
which Conn became the undisputed monarch. Conn ended
K 2
1S2 lEELAlJD UNDER NATIVE RULERS Pabt IL
his life by assassination, and was succeeded by his son-in-
law Conary II. (a.d. 212).
Prom the earliest ages the Irish of Ulster were in the
habit of crossing the narrow sea to Alban or Scotland,
where colonies were settled from time to time ; and
constant intercourse was kept up between the two countries^
The first regular colony of which we have any reliable
account was conducted by Carbery Hiada, the son of king
Conary. The Irish accounts of this migration, which are
very detailed and circumstantial, are corroborated by the
Venerable Bede, who has also preserved the name of the
leader: — 'In course of time, Britain, besides the Britons
and Picts, received a third nation, the Scoti, who issuing
from Hibernia under the leadership of Reuda, secured for
themselves, either by friendship or by the sword, settle-
ments among the Picts which they still possess. From
the name of their commander they are to this day called
Dalreudini ; for in their language Dal signifies a part.' '
The settlers took possession of the western coasts and
islands, in spite of the opposition of the kindred Picts who
had occupied the country before them. From this Biada
two territories, one in Ireland and the other in Scotland —
both well known in Irish and Scottish history — were called
Dalriada, Riada's dal or portion.
Cormac Mac Art, or Cormac Ulfada (a.d. 254), the
grandson of Conn the Hundred-fighter, was the most illus-
trious of all the pagan kings of Ireland. He was a great
warrior and gained many battles during his reign of twenty-
three years. He is however more celebrated as an en-
courager of learning than as a military leader. He is said
to have founded three colleges at Tara, one for the study of
military science, one for history and literature, and one for
law. It is said of him also that he cauf^ed the chroniclers
of Ireland to write into the Psalter of Tara the history of
the kings of Ireland, with an account of the subdivisions
of the country and of the stipends due to the several kings
frain their sub-kings. But the Psalter of Tara has been
long lost.
> Bede, £coi. Hut. Cook I. uhap. i. ~
CSAP. n. THE KINGS OF PAGAN IRELANI) 133
After a prosperous reign, Cormac abdicated on account
of the accidental loss of an eye ; for no king with a personal
blemish was allowed to reign at Tara (see p. 62). He
retired to his kingly cottage, called Cletta, on the shore of
the river Boyne; and here he composed the book called
Tegasg Righ [Ree] or Instructions for a King, and other
law tracts, of which we have copies in our old manuscript
volumes. Cormac died at Cletta in the year 277, and it
is stated that his death was brought about by the druids.
For the legend says that he became a Christian ; and that the
druids practised their incantations against him and cau&ed
him to be choked by the bone of a salmon.
In the time of Cormac flourished the Fianna [Feena]
of Erin, a sort of militia, like the Red Branch Knights
(p. 38), in the service of the monarch. They were com-
manded by Cormac's son-in-law, the renowned Finn Mac
Cumhail [Cool], who is remembered in tradition all over
Ireland to this day.
Cormac was succeeded (a.d. 279) by his son Carbery
of the Liffey. In his reign the Fena of Erin were sup-
pressed. For they had grown turbulent and rebellious, so
that at last king Carbery was forced to march against
them ; and the two armies fought a tiCrrible battle at
Gabhra [Gavra] near the Hill of Skreen in Meath. Car-
bery slew Oscar (p. 38) in single combat, but was himself
slain immediately after by a treacherous kinsman as he was
retiring faint and wounded after his fight with Oscar. In
this celebrated battle the two armies almost annihilated
each other ; and the Fena were dispersed for evermore.
During the reign of Muredach (a.d. 327) his three
cousins, Colla Huas, Colla Menn, and CoUa Da-Crich
[Cree] — commonly called the Three Collas — invaded and
conquered Ulster, destroyed the palace of Emania, drove
the Ulster people eastwards across Glenree or the Newry
river, and took possession of that part of the province lying
west of the same river.
Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Achy Moyvane (king
of Ireland a.d. 358) and uncle to king Dathi, was one of
the greatest, most warlike, and most famous of all th©
134 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS VhitU.
ancient Irish kings. Four of his sons settled in Meath, and
four others conquered for themselves a territory in Ult^ter
where they settled. The posterity of Niall are called Hy
Neill ; the southern Hy Neill being descended from those
that settled in Meath, the northern Hy Neill from those
that went to Ulster. By far the greatest number of the
Irish kings from this period till the Anglo-Norman inva-
sion were descended from Niall through one or the other
of these two branches. Generally, though not always, the
kings of Ireland were elected from the northern and
southern Hy Neill alternately.
All who have read the histories of England and Rome
know how prominently the ' Picts and Scots ' figure during
the first four centuries of our era, and how much trouble
they gave to both Romans and Britons. The Picts were
the people of Scotland — a branch of the Goidels or Gaels :
the Scots were the Irish Gaels : — ' The Scots, who afterwards
settled in what is now known as Scotland, at that time
dwelt in Ireland.'* In those times the Scots often went
from Ireland on plundering excursions to the coasts of
Britain and Gaul, and seem to have been almost as much
dreaded then as the Danes were in later ages. At some
early age — before the time of Suetonius in the first
century — they conquered the Isle of Man and a large part
of Wales, where many traces of their occupation remain to
this day. Our oldest traditions teem with references to,
and stories of, these conquests. During the whole time of
the Roman occupation of Britain we constantly hear — both
from native and Roman sources — of the , excursions Of the
Scots ; and when the Roman power began to wane, they
became still more frequent. ' It was only however in the
fourth century, when the warlike energies of the Roman
empire had become relaxed, and vigorous life was fast
fading at its extremities, that the Hibernian Scots became
the implacable and perpetual foes of the empire.' ^
' Gardiner's Student's History of England, 1892, pp. 23, 24.
* Ireland and the Celtic Church, by Prof. G. T. Stokes, D.D., p. 17.
For more inf ormat ion on the invasions of Britain by the IScots, see pp.
16 to 20 of the same book.
Chap. IL THE KINGS OF PAGAN IRELAND 186
' An invasion of Britain, on a far more extensive and
formidable scale than had yet been attempted from Ireland,
took place towards the close of the fourth century under
Niall of the Nine Hostages, one of the most gallant of all
the princes of the Milesian race.'* Observing that the
Bomans had retired to the eastern shore of Britain, Niall
collected a great fleet and landing in Wales carried off
immense plunder. He was forced to retreat by the valiant
Roman general Stilicho, but * left marks of depredation
and ruin wherever he passed.' On this occasion the poet
Claudian when praising Stilicho says of him — speaking in
the person of Britannia : — ' By him was I protected when
the Scot [i.e. Niall] moved all Ireland against me and the
ocean foamed with their hostile oars.' The ancient Irish
accounts of these expeditions are on the whole corroborated
by Boman historians. In one of Niall's excursions St.
Patrick was brought captive to Ireland, as related in next
chapter.
It was in one of his expeditions to the coast of Gaul —
according to the ancient Irish tradition — that Niall, while
marching at the head of his army, was assassinated
(a.d. 405) on the shore of the river Loire by the king of
Leinster, who shot him with an arrow across the river.
Dathi [Dauhy], Niall's successor (a.d. 405), was the
last king of pagan Ireland. He too made inroads into
foreign lands ; and he was killed by a flash of lightning at
the foot of the Alps, after he had plundered the sanctuary
of a Christian hermit named Parmenins. His soldiers
brought his body home and buried it at Croghan under J
a red pillar-stone which remains in the old pagan cemetery
to this day.
Laeghaire [Leary] the son of Niall succeeded in 428.
In the fifth year of his reign St. Patrick came- to Ireland
on his great mission. This king, like many of his pre-
decessors, waged war against the Leinstermen to exact the
Boru tribute ; but they defeated him and took him prisoner.
Then they made him swear by the sun and wind and all
the elements that he would never again demand the
• Moore, ^irt. ^ Jrrf. i. 160.
v
136 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Paut IL
tribute ; and when he had sworn they set him free. But
the very next year (463) he invaded Leinster again;
whereupon — so says the legend — he was killed while on
his march by the sun and wind for having broken his oath.
The history of pagan Ireland ends here, and for so far
we have drawn almost exclusively on native sources of
information. These are commonly regarded as legendary,
and at least in the earlier part as unworthy of credit. Yet
the few notices of Ireland left us by early foreign writers
would seem to justify to some extent the native claim to
civilisation and regular government in times before the
Christian era. The island was known to the Phoenicians,
who probably visited it ; and Greek writers mention it
under the names lemis and lerne, and as the Sacred Island
thickly inhabited by the Hibemi. Ptolemy, writing in the
second century, who is known to have derived his infor-
mation from Phoenician authorities, has given a descrip-
tion of Ireland much more accurate than that he has left
us of Great Britain.* And that the people of Ireland
carried on considerable trade with foreign countries in
those early ages we know from the statement of Tacitus,
that in his time — the end of the first century — the harbours
of Ireland were better known to commercial nations than
those of Britain. Commerce and barbarism do not co-
exist ; and the natural inference from those scattered but
pregnant notices is that the country had settled institu-
tions and a certain degree of civilisation as early at least
as the beginning of the Christian era.
We shall here interrupt the regular course of the nar^
rative to sketch the mission of St. Patrick : the secular
history will be resumed in Chapter IV. page 150.
* Moore, Hut. of Irel. vol. L chap. i.
Chaf. m. 187
CHAPTER III
SAINT PATRICK
[Chief authorities :— Trip. Life of St. Pk. by Stokea ; Most Her. Dr,
Healy's Ireland's Anc. Schools and Scholars ; Lanigan's EccL
Hist. ; Todd's St. Pk. Apostle of Irel. ; Four Mast. ; Rev. J. Shear«
man's Loca Patriciana ; O'Carry, Mann, and Cast. ; Relig. Beliefs
of Pagan Irish, by Crowe— Kilk. Arch. Jour. 1868-9, p. 307.]
It is commonly supposed tihat the religion of pagan
Ireland was druidism. But when we come to inquire
particularly into the nature of this Irish druidisin — what
were its doctrines and ceremonials — we find ourselves
very much in the dark ; for the native information that
has come down to us is scattered, vague, and unsatis-
factory, and there is none from outside. The druidic
systems of Gaul, Britain, and Ireland were originally no
doubt one and the same, as being derived from some
common eastern source ; but judging from our ancient
literature, druidism became greatly modified in Ireland ;
and the descriptions of the Gaulish druids left us by
CaBsar and others give us no information regarding the
druids of Ireland. The following short account is derived
from purely native sources, beyond which we cannot go.
In the oldest Irish traditions the druids figure con- >
spicuously. All the early colonists had their druids, who
are mentioned as holding high rank among kings and
chiefs. They are often called Men of Science to denote
their superior knowledge ; for they were the exclusive
possessors of all the knowledge and learning of the time.
Many worshipped idols of some kind. Some worshipped
water ; and we read of one, of the time of St. Patrick, who
considered water as a god of goodness, and fire an evil
genius, so that he got himself buried deep under his
favourite well called Slan (p. 141) to keep his bones cool
from the fire that he dreaded.' Slan means healing 'y and
' Tripartite Life, by Stokes, 123.
138 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RXILERS Pabt H.
we are told that the people offered gifts to this well as to
a god.
They were skilled in magic — indeed they figure more
conspicuously as magicians than in any other capacity —
and were believed to be possessed of tremendous preter- ^
natural powers. They wore a white magic tunic, and
w^hen working their spells they chanted an incantation.'
In some of the old historical romances we find the issues
of battles sometimes determined not so much by the valour
of the combatants as by the magical powers of the druids
attached to the armies. They could — as the legends tell —
raise druidical clouds and mists and bring down showers
of fire and blood ; they could drive a man insane or into
idiocy by flinging a magic wisp of straw in his face ; and
many other instances of this necromantic power could be
cited. In the hymn that St. Patrick chanted on his way
to Tara on Easter Sunday morning, he asks God to protect
him against the spells of women, of smiths, and of druids.
They were skilful in divination, and foretold future events
from dreams and visions, from sneezing and casting lots,
from the croaking of ravens and the chirping of wrens.
King Dathi's drtrids forecasted the issue of his military
expeditions by observations of some kind from the summit
of a hill.'* In their divination they used a rod of yew with
Ogham words cut on it. In prehistoric times it is pretty
certain that druids, poets, and brehons were identical ;
and in the ancient literature it is often hard to distinguish
them : but in after ages they became distinct.
The druids instructed the sons of kings and chiefs in
poetry, divination, and military accomplishments. They
bitterly opposed Christianity, as we know from the Lives
of St. Patrick. We learn also from the Lives of other
saints, that there were druids in the country long after
St. Patrick's time, and that they continued to exercise
powerful influence. The whole life of St. Berach, who
flourished in the sixth century, seems to have been one
continual struggle against the druids.
• Tripartite Life, by Stokes, pp. 65, 57, 325, 326.
' Tribes and Cuttomt of By Fiachrach, 99.
CaAP. ra. SAINT PATRICK 189
In our ancient literature there are numerous notices of
pagan religious belie. s and observances ; but whether all
these were connected with druidism is a matter of un-
certainty. In the old historical romances several pagan
deities are mentioned. There were war goddesses called
severally Badb or Bava, Morrigan, Mocha, and Nemain,
who hovered shrieking over the heads of heroes in battle,
and inspired them with preternatural fury. Bava and
Nemain were the wives of Aeit, who was the god of war.'
Ana or Danann, a Dedannan goddess, is called in Cormac's
Glossary the Mother of the Gods ; and it is stated that the
Paps Mountains in Kerry — anciently the ' Two Paps of
Danann ' — took their name from her. Mannanan Mac
Lir, of the Dedannans, was god of the sea, who gave name
to the Isle of Man. His son was the powerful god
Dagda, whose son again was Aengus Mac-in-Og. Aengus
dwelt in the palace of Bruga of the Boyne within the great
mound of Newgrange : and Brigit, the goddess of wisdom,
was his daughter. Diancecht was the god of healing.
Our most ancient secular and ecclesiastical literature
attests the universal belief in the Side [Shee] or fairies, who,
as we are told in Fiach's Hymn and in the Tripartite Life,
were worshipped by the Irish.^ These were local deities
who were supposed to live in the interior of pleasant green
hills or under great rocks or sepulchral cairns, where they
had splendid palaces. These fairy hills and rocks are also
called side ; numbers of them, each with its own tutelary
deity, are scattered over the country ; and many are still
known and held in much superstitious awe by the people.
Hence the fairies are often called deena-shee, people of the
fairy hills ; and a female fairy is still called a banshee, from
lean [ban], a woman. Finnvarra, the fairy of Knockma
near Tuam in Galway, is still vividly remembered ; so is
Aed-Roe who lives in his palace under the green hill of
MuUinashee beside Ballyshannon ; and Donn of Knock-
fiema near Groom in Limerick rules all the Limerick plain.
' W. M. HennesRy on • The Ancient Irish Goddess of War ' in
Serve Celtiqw.
» Tripartite Life, by Stokes, pp. 100, 315, 409,
140 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Paht EC
Cleena the potent banshee of South Munster has her
palace in the heart of a pile of rocks — Carrig-Cleena — near
Mallow, and gave name to Tonn-Cleena (Cleena's Wave),
the sea off Glandore in Cork ; and the guardian spirit of
the Dalcassians of North Munster was the beautiful Eevin
of Craglea, a great grey rock rising over Lough Derg near
Killaloe. All these, and many others, are well known to
this day by the people of the several places.
The fairies were also believed to inhabit the old raths
and lisses, so numerous all over the country, a superstition
that still lingers everywhere among the peasantry. In
the Book of Armagh we read that when the two daughters
of King Laeghaire met St. Patrick and his companions in
the early morning in their strange white robes with books
in their hands, they supposed them to be deena-shee
(p. 148, farther on). In our oldest literature the deena-
shee are identified with the Dedannans. This mysterious
people, after their conquest by the Milesians, retired to
remote places, and in process of time became deified.'
There was a dim vague belief in a land of everlasting
youth and peace, called by various names — Tir-nawr-heo,
the land of the ever living, Timanoge, the land of perpetual
youth, Moy-Mell, &c. As to where it was situated the
accounts are shadowy and variable. Sometimes it was
represented as deep in the earth in a great sparry cave all
in a blaze of light ; sometimes it was O'Brazil, far out in
the Atlantic Ocean ; sometimes it was Tir-fa-tonn, * the
country beneath the waves.'
Though we have no positive evidence that the Irish
generally worshipped the elements, yet our ancient litera-
ture affords glimpses that would seem to point to the
prevalence of elemental worship in pre-historic times.
The most solemn and binding pagan oath was by the sun
and moon, water and air, day and night, sea and land ;
and the legend relates that king Laeghaire, for violating
this oath, ' was killed by the sun and wind and by the
other guarantees ; for no one dared to dishonour them at
' See the chapter on ' Fairies, Demons, Goblins, and Ghosts' in my
Irish Xamet of Placet, where this subject is more fully discussed.
Chap. HL SAINT PATRICK 141
the time.' * St. Patrick himself in his Confession seems
to imply the existence of sun worship where he says that
all who adore the sun shall perish eternally. We know
from the Lives of St. Patrick and from other authorities
that in some places certain wells were worshipped (see
p. 137 above). There were primitive customs connected
with fire, some of which are noticed at pages 89 and 146 ;
the relics of which have descended to our own time in the
fire superstitions of Beltane or May-day, and in the custom
of lighting fires in the open air on the eve of the 24th of
June. This is the most we can say in favour of the preva-
lence of elemental worship. Recent detailed descriptions
of the sun worship and fire worship of pagan Ireland, and
t!ie speculations about ' bovine cultus,' ' porcine cultus,'
* Crom the god of fire,' and such like, are all dreams of
persons who never took the trouble to investigate the
ancient authentic literature of the country.
In some places idols were worshipped. There was a
great idol, called Crom Cruach, covered all over with gold,
on Moy-SlecJd (the plain of adoration) in the present county
of Cavan, surrounded by twelve lesser idols, all of which
were destroyed by St. Patrick.^ Both the secular and
ecclesiastical authorities concur in the main facts regarding
this idol, and we are told in the legend that king Tighem-
mas and crowds of his people were destroyed as they were
engaged worshipping it. Crom Cruach was the chief idol
of Ireland and the special god of some kings.' In the
Book of Leinster* it is stated that the Irish used to
sacrifice their children to this idol ; but I receive this
comparatively late statement with doubt : it is not
corroborated by the older and better authorities, the Lives
of St. Patrick ; and I do not believe the ancient Irish
practised human sacrifice. In the west of Connaught the
people worshipped another noted idol called Crom'-duff.
But though idols are often mentioned in the Lives of tho
» Book (vf the Dun Cow, p. 118, col. 2, line 30.
■ Tripartite Life, by Stokes, 91, 369.
• Ibid. 219.
* Page 213, "ud colnmn, line 18 from bottom.
1 12 IRELAND UNDEB NATIVE RULERS Pabt IL
•aints and in the native secalar literature, it does not
appear that idol worship was very general.
These references and many others in our old literature
are too vague and disconnected to enable us to say that the
pagan Irish had any very generally diffused uniform
system of religion or religious worship. Their religious
beliefs may be best described as a collection of super-
stitions, which never attained such consistency and dig-
nity and never exercised such an influence on the inner
life of the people as to deserve the name of a religion.
We know that there were Christians in Ireland long
before the time of St. Patrick, but we have no evidence to
show how Christianity was introduced in those early ages.
St. Prosper of Aquitaine, a contemporary authority, tells
us that in the year 431, Pope Celestine sent Pailadius 'to
the Scots believing in Christ to be their first bishop ; ' and
Bede repeats the same statement. There must have been
Christians in considerable numbers when the Pope thought
this measure necessary ; and such numbers could not have
grown up in a short time. We have evidence that as early
as the middle of the fourth century there were Christian
Irishmen of eminence on the Continent ; and though we
are not able to say that they brought their faith from
Ireland, yet the fact lends strength to other evidence that
Christianity had found its way into the country at that
early date.
Pailadius landed in the present county of Wicklow ;
but his mission was not successful ; for after a short
sojourn, during which he founded three little churches,
he was expelled by Nathi, chief of the district ; and soon
after he died in Scotland.
The next mission had very different results. ' Al-
though Christianity was not propagated in Ireland by the
blood of martyrs, there is no instance of any other nation
that universally received i^ in as short a space of time as
the Irish did ; ' * and in the whole history of Christianity
we do not find a missionary more successfui than St.
* Lanigan, £ocl. Hist. iv. 287.
Chap. III. SAINT PATRICK 143
Patrick.' He tells us in his Confession and in his Letter
to Coroticus, that his father Calpurnius was a deacon, son
of Potitus a priest, and that he was also a decurion or
magistrate of a Roman colony. It is pretty certain
that Patrick was born either in Scotland or in Armoric
Gaul : the weight of authority tends to the neigh-
bourhood of Dumbarton in Scotland. When he was a
boy of sixteen — as he states in the Confession — he
was taken captive with many others and brought to %
Ireland. This was about the year 403 ; and it occurred ' i
probably in one of those predatory excursions already
spoken of (p. 135), led by Niall of the Nine Hostages.
He was sold as a slave, and spent six years of his life
herding sheep on the bleak slopes of Slemish Mountain in
Antrim. Here in his solitude his mind was turned to
God, and while carefully doing the work of his hard
master Milcho, he employed his leisure hours in devotions.
We know this from his own words in the Confession : — ' I
was daily tending the flocks and praying frequently every
day that the love of God might be more enkindled in my
heart ; so much so that in one day I poured out my prayers
a hundred times, and as often in the night : nay, even in
woods and mountains I remained and rose before the light
to my prayer, in frost and snow and rain, and suffered no
inconvenience, nor yielded to any slothfulness such as I '
now experience, for the Spirit of the Lord was fervent
within me.'
At the end of six years he escaped and made his way
through many hardships and dangers to his native country.
During his residence in Ireland he had learned the lan-
guage of the people ; and brooding continually on the state
of pagan darkness in which they lived, he formed the
resolution to devote his life to their conversion- He set
about his preparation very deliberately. He first studied
under St. Martin in his monastic school at Tours, and
* It is now known that there were at least two early saints named
Patrick connected with Ireland, whose lives and acts have been some-
times mixed ap. The incidents given in this short sketch are ascribed
by the best authorities to the great St. Patrick.
114
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE BULERS
FastU.
spent some time subsequently with St. Germain of Auzerre.
During all this time he applied himself with great fervour
to works of piety ; and he had visions and dreams in
which he heard the Irish people calling to him to return to
Ireland and walk among them with the light of faith. At
length the time came to begin his labours; and he
repaired to Rome with a letter from . St. Germain recom-
mending him to Pope Celestine as a suitable person to
attempt the conversion of the Irish nation.'
Having received authority and benediction from the
Pope he set out for Ireland. On his way through Gaul
news came of the death of Palladius, and as this left
Ireland without a bishop, Patrick was consecrated bishop
by a certain holy prelate named Amator. Embarking for
Ireland he landed, in the year 432, on the coast of Wicklow,
at the mouth of the Vartry river, the spot where the town
of Wicklow now stands. He was then in the full vigour
of manhood — about forty-five years of age. The good
Pope Celestine did not live to see the glorious result of
the mission : he was dead before the arrival of his mis-
sionary in Ireland. Soon after landing, Patrick, like his
' The subject of Patrick's mission has given rise to much contro-
versy. Many deny that he was sent by the Pope, their main argument
being that no mention of the papal mission is found in the Cionfessioa
or in the memoir of the saint in the beginning of the Book of Armagh.
But Bishop Tirechan in his Notes, farther on in the same Book of
Armagh (see p. 21 above), makes this positive assertion : — ' In the
thirteenth year of the emperor Theodosius the Bishop Patrick was sent
by Celestine Bishop and Pope of Rome to instruct the Scots (Irish)
.... Through him all Ireland believed, and he baptised nearly the
whole nation' (^Documenta de S. Patricio em Lihro ArAmaoUouno,
by the Rev. Edmund Hogan, S.J., pp 67, 89). Prefixed to Tirechan's
notes is the following entry by Ferdomnach, who copied them before
the year 807 into the Book of Armagh: — 'Tirechan the bishop wrote
these [Notes] from the mouth, or from the book of Bishop Ultan
whose pupil or disciple he was.' 8t. Ultan, bishop of Ardbraccan
in Meath, from whom Tirechan got his information, died in 666,
which brings him within a century and a half of 8t. Patrick. Per-
haps too much importance has been attached to this question, inas-
much as all agree that Palladius was sent by Pope Celestine. More-
over we know that 8t. Patrick always looked with great reverence and
affection to Rome: and in one of his decrees he dinxsts that when any
difiQcult question arose in Ireland it should be referred to the chair of
St. Peter. (Tripartite Life, hj Stokes, pp. 366, 506.)
CniP. m. SAINT PATRICK 145
predecessor, was expelled from Wicklow, probably by the
BE'Tie chief Nathi ; and coasting northward, and resting for
a little time at the little island of Holmpatrick on the
Dublin coast near Skerries, he finally landed at Lecale in
Down. A herdsman who happened to see the party,
thinking they were pirates, ran and told his master Dicho,
the chief of the district, who instantly sallied forth with
his people to drive them back ; but when he caught sight
of them he was so struck by their calm and dignified
demeanour that he saluted them respectfully and invited
them to his house. Here the saint announced his mission
and explained his doctrine; and Dicho and his whole
family became Christians and were baptized — the first of
the Irish converted by St. Patrick. He celebrated Mass
in a Sahliall [saval] or barn presented to him by the chief,
on the site of which a monastery was subsequently erected,
which for many ages was held in great veneration. And
the memory of the auspicious event was preserved in the
name by which the place was subsequently known,
Sabhall-Patrick or Patrick's Bam, ' now shortened to
Saul.
He next set out to visit the district where he had
spent so many solitary years of his youth, for he was
anxious to convert his old master Milcho ; but that
chief refused to see him, and died as he had lived,
a pagan. Patrick then returned to Saul, where he re-
mained some time, preaching still and converting the
people.
During the whole of St. Patrick's mission his invari-
able plan was to address himself in the first instance to
the kings ^d chiefs. He understood the habits of the
Irish people ; and he well knew that if the chief became a
Christian, the people, with their devotion for their heiedi-
tary rulers, would soon follow. He now resolved to go
straightway to Tara, where king Laeghaire and his nobles
happened at this time to be celebrating a festival of
some kind. Bidding farewell to his friend Dicho, he
sailed southwards to the mouth of the Boyne, where
leaving hia boat, he set oat on foot with hia companions
L
146
>>
lEELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
PAHTa.
across the country for Tara, and arrived at Slane on
Saturday, Easter eve, a.d. 433. Here he prepared to cele-
brate the Easter festival, and towards nightfall — as was
then the custom — lighted the Paschal fire on the hill of
Slane.
At this very time it happened that the king's people
were about to light the festival fire at Tara, which was a
part of their ceremonial ; and there was a law that while
this fire was burning no other should be kindled in the
country all round, on pain of death. The king and his
courtiers were much astonished when they saw the fire
ablaze upon the hill of Slane, nine miles off; and when the
monarch inquired about it, his druids said : — * If that fire
which we see be not extinguished to-night it will never be
extinguished, but will overtop all our fires : and he that
has kindled it will overturn thy kingdom.' Whereupon
the king, in great wrath, instantly set out in his chariot
with a small retinue ; and having arrived near Slane he
summoned the strangers to his presence. He had com-
manded that none should rise up to show them respect ;
but when they presented themselves one of the courtiers,
Ere the son of Dego, struck with the saint's commanding
appearance, rose from his seat and saluted him. This Ere
was converted and became afterwards bishop of Slane ; and
to this day he is commemorated in the name of a little
chapel beside the Boyne at Slane, called St. Erc's hermit-
age. The result of this interview was what St. Patrick
most earnestly desired ; he was commanded to appear next
day at Tara and give an account of his proceedings before
the assembled court.
The next day was Easter Sunday. Patrick and his
companions set out for the palace, and on their way they
chanted a hymn in the native tongue — an invocation for
protection against the dangers and treachery by which
they were beset ; for they had heard that persons were
lying in wait to slay them. This hymn, which is called
Faed Fiada, or the Deer's cry, from the legend that Patrick
and his companions appeared in the shape of deer to the
intended assassins, was long held in great veneration by the
Chap. IIL SAINT PATRICK 147
people of this country, and we still possess copies of it in a
very old dialect of the Irish language.*
In the history of the spread of Christianity it would be
perhaps diflBcult to find a more singular and impressive
scene than was presented at the court of king Laeghaire
on that memorable Easter morning. The saint was robed
in white, as were also his companions ; he wore his mitre,
and carried his crozier — the Bachall Isa or staff of Jesus— r
in his hand; and when he presented himself before the
assembly, Dubhthach [Duffa] the chief poet rosA to wel-
come him, contrary to the express commands of the king.
In presence of the monarch and his nobles, the saint
explained the leading points of the Christian doctrine, and
silenced the king's druids in argument.
The proceedings of this auspicious day were a type of
St. Patrick's future career. Dubhthach became a convert,
and thenceforward devoted his poetical talents to the service
of God; and Laeghaire gave permission to the strange
missionaries to preach their doctrines throughout^ his
dominions. The king himself was almost moved to i5ecome
a Christian, but there is good reason to believe that he
died an obstinate pagan. Patrick next proceeded to
Tailltenn (pp. 89, 90), where during the celebration of the
national games he preached for a week to the assembled
multitudes, making many converts, among whom was
Conall Gulban, brother to king Laeghaire.
We find him soon after, with that intrepidity and de-
cision of character for which he was so remarkably dis-
tinguished, making straight for Moy Slecht, where stood
the great national idol Crom Cruach, surrounded by twelve
lesser idols (page 141). These he destroyed, and thus
terminated for ever the abominations enacted for so many
ages at that ancient haunt of gloomy superstition.
In his journey through Connaught he met the two
daughters of king Laeghaire — Ethnea the fair and'
Fedelma the ruddy — near the royal palace of Croghan ;
where they had been placed some time before by their
' It is printed with translation (by John O'Donovan) in Petrie'f
Tara ; and also in Stokes's Tripartite Life cf St. Patrick.
1.2
148
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Pakt IL
father, under the care of two magi or druids. Patrick and
his attendants had assembled one morning at sunrise neap
a well called Clebach, in the vicinity of the palace, and
chanted a hymn ; and when the virgins had come at this
same hour, ' to wash after the manner of women,' they were
astonished to find so strange an assembly before them.
' And they knew not whence they were, or in what form, or
from what people, or from what country; but they sup-
posed them to be deena shee (p. 139), or gods of the
earth, or a phantasm.'
The virgins then inquired whence they came, and
Patrick answered them, ' It were better for you to confess
to our true God than to inquire concerning our race.'
They eagerly asked about God, his attributes, his dwell-
ing place — whether in the sea, in rivers, in mountainous
places, or in valleys — how a knowledge of him was to be
obtained, how he was to be found, seen, and loved, with
other inquiries of a like nature. The saint answered their
questions, and explained the leading points of the faith ;
and the virgins were immediately baptized, and consecrated
to the service of religion.
On the approach of Lent he retired to the mountain
which has since borne his name — Croagh Patrick or Pa-
trick's Hill — where he spent some time in fasting and
prayer. This mountain has been ever since revered, and
continues to this day a noted place of pilgrimage. At
this time, a.d. 449, the seven sons of Amalgaidh [Awley]
king of Connaught had convened a great assembly at a
place called Forrach mac-nAwley or the meeting place of
Awley's sons. Patrick repaired to the meeting and ex-
pounded his doctrines to the wondering assembly ; and the
seven princes with twelve thousand persons were baptized.
After spending seven years in Connaught, he visited
successively Ulster, Leinster, and Munster. Soon afrer
entering Leinster, he converted at Naas — then the resi-
dence of the Leinster kings — the two princes Ilann and
Olioll, sons of Dunlang king of Leinster, who both after-
wards succeeded to the throne of their father. And at
Cashel, the seat of the kings of Munster, he was met by the
Chap. in. SAINT PATEICK 149
king, Aengus the son of Natfree, who conducted him into
the palace with the highest reverence and honour, and was
at once baptized.
Wherever he went he founded churches, and left them
in charge of his disciples. In his various journeys he
encountered many dangers, and met with numerous re-
pulses; but his failures were few and unimportant, and
success attended his efforts in every part of his wonderful
career. He founded the see of Armagh about the ^ar
455, and constituted it the metropolitan see of all Ireland.
The greater part of the country was now filled with
Christians and with churches ; and the labours of the
venerable apostle were drawing to a close. He was seized
with his last illness in Saul, his favourite retreat, the
scene of his first spiritual triumph ; and he breathed his
last on the 17th of March, in or about the year 465, in the
78th year of his age.^
The news of his death was the signal for universal
mourning. From the remotest districts of the island,
the clergy turned their steps towards the little village qf
Saul — bishops, priests, abbots, and monks — all came to pay
the last tribute of love and respect to their gre^t "master.
They celebrated the obsequies for twelve days and nights
without interruption, joining in the solemnities as they
arrived in succession ; and in the language of one of his
biographers, the blaze of myriads of torches made the whole
time appear like one continuous day.
A contention arose between the chiefs of Oriel, the
district in which Armagh was situated, and those of
Uhdia, or the eastern part of Ulster, concerning the place
where he should be interred ; but it happily terminated
without bloodshed. He was buried with great solemnity
at Bun-da-leth-glas, the old residence of the princes of |
Ulidia; and the name, in the altered form of Down- «
Patrick, commemorates to all time the saint's place of -
interment.
' There is much uncertainty both as to St. Patrick's age and as to
the year of his death. I have given the age and year that seem to me
most probable.
150 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Part II.
It must not be supposed that Ireland was completely
Christianised by St. Patrick. There still remained lar^^e
districts never visited by him or his companions : and in
many others the Christianity of the people was merely on
the surface. Much pagan superstition remained, even
among the professing Christians, and the druids still and
for long after retained great influence ; so that there was
ample room for the missionary labours of St. Patrick's suc-
cessors.
CHAPTER IV
EARLY CHRISTIAN IRELAND
Lewy the son of Laeghaire was too young at the time of his
father's death (p. 136) to claim the throne, which was seized
by Olioll Molt king of Connaught, son of Dathi, a.d. 457.
But Lewy when he came of age raised a great army and
defeated and slew king Olioll in the terrible battle of Ocha
ii;i Meath, and took possession of the throne. This battle,
which was fought in 483, forms one of the epochs of early
Irish history, many subsequent events being dated from it ;
and it caused a revolution in the succession. Olioll Molt
did not belong to the Hy Neill ; Lewy was of the southern
Hy Neill; and for 500 years after this — to the time of
Malachi II, — the throne of Ireland was held by members
of the Hy Neill race without a break.
The colony led by Carbery Riada to Scotland has
already been mentioned (p. 132). These primitive settlers
and their descendants, supported from time to time by
other emigrants, held their ground against the Picts ; but
the settlement was weak and struggling, and did not
deserve the name of a kingdom till it was reinforced by
the next and greatest colony of all. This was led in 503
—during the reign of Lewy — by three chiefs of the Irish
Dalriada, Fergus, Angus, and Lome, the sons of a chief
named Ere, a descendant of Carbery Riada. These
colonists, as well as their leaders, it should be observed,
were Christians. Fergus, who was also called Fergua
Chap. IV. EARLY CHRISTIAN IRELAND 151
More (the Great) and Fergus Mac Ere, became king of the
Scottish Gaelic colony, which before long mastered the
whole country and ultimately gave it the name of Scot-
land.* He was the ancestor of the subsequent kings of
Scotland ; and from him through the Stewarts descend our
present royal family.
Dermot the son of Fergus Kervall became king of
Ireland in 544. In his reign the terrible pestilence called
the Grom-Connell or yellow plague, which then prevailed
over Europe, desolated Ireland for eight or ten years.
The last Fes of Tara was held by Dermot in 560: after
his time the old capital was abandoned as a royal residence.
The worst of the misfortunes that befell this king arose from
his quarrels with some of the leading ecclesiastics. I have
already related (p. 20) how the outrage he committed on
St. Columkille brought on the battle of Culdremne, where
he was defeated by the men of Ulster and Connaught-(iu
561). The desertion of Tara came about by another
quarrel of a similar kind. A criminal fleeing from the
wrath of king Dermot took refuge in the church of St.
Rodan at Lorrha in Tipperary : but the king, disregarding
the sanctuary, had the fugitive brought forth and carried olf
prisoner. Whereupon the saint was so incensed that he
proceeded north and very deliberately pronounced a solemn
curse on Tara. From that time forth the kings of Ireland
lived elsewhere — each in his own province : and the place
gradually fell into decay. Its abandonment was no doubt
an evil, as it tended to break up the unity of the
monarchy.
A^d or Hugh the son of AinmirS reigned from 572 to
598. By him was summoned, in 574, the celebrated con-
vention of Druim-cete [Drum-Ketta], now called the Mul-
lagh or Daisy Hill, on the river Roe, one mile above
Limavady. It was the first national assembly held since
' The name Scotia originally belonged to Ireland : Scotland, which
was anciently called Alba, got the name Scotia Minor from the Scotic
or Irish colony. About the 11th century Scotland took the name Scotia
permanently, and the parent country dropped it. See my Ir'uih Maine*
of Placet, im.
152
EREIAND UNDER NATIVE EULERS
PahtH.
the abandonment of Tara, and it was attended by the chief
men of Ireland both lay and clerical. St. Columba also and
a number of his clergy came from lona to take part in the
proceedings, as well as the king and chiefs of the Scottish
Dalriada. This meeting was convened to consider two
main questions, besides many minor ones. The first was
the regulation of the bards, which was settled at the inter-
cession of St. Columba in the manner already related
(p. 121). The second question had reference to the Dal-
riadic colony in Scotland. Three-quarters of a century had
elapsed since its establishment, and the colonial kings had
ever since continued subject to the kings of Ireland, and
contributed men to their armies. Now king Aed de-
manded, in addition to this, a direct yearly tribute. But
the colony had grown strong, and Aedan the Dalriadic
king, who was brother of BrandufF king of Leinster, made
a demand for complete independence, which was resisted
by the Irish king. In this important matter also St.
Columba, who was nearly related to both the Irish and the
Scottish kings, exerted his great influence ; and the king of
Ireland wisely yielding to him, consented to forego all claim
to authority over the Scottish king. From that time forth
the Dalriadic kingdom of Scotland remained independent.
King Aed perished, a.d. 598, in an attempt to exact
the hated Borumean tribute from the Leinstermen.
Brand uff (Black Raven) the powerful king of Leinster re-
sisted the claim ; whereupon Aed invaded Leinster with
a great army. Branduff met him at a place called
Dunbolg, near Dunlavin in Wicklow. His army was very
much the smaller, but by a skilfully devised stratagem,
he took his adversaries in a night surprise. The battle
that followed is recorded in all the annals and is celebrated
in an ancient Irish historical romance. The royal forces
were defeated and slaughtered, and king Aed himself, re-
treating with his guards, was overtaken and beheaded by
one of the Leinster chiefs.
After a number of short unin^portant reigns, Donall the
son of king Aed Mac Ainmire ascended the throne A.D.
627. His predecessor (Sweeny Menn) had been killed by
Chap. ir. EAELY CHKISTIAN IRELAND 153
a powerful Ulster prince named Congal Claen : and Donall
immediately on his accession marched into Ulster, defeated
Congal in Derry, and forced him to fly from the country.
Congal took refuge in Britain, where he had many relatives
through intermarriages ; and after an exile of nine years
he landed on the coast of Down with a great army of
auxiliaries — Britons, Saxons, Alban Scots, and Picts — and
was immediately joined by his Ulster partisans.
Donall had been fully aware of Congal's projected in-
vasion, and had made very deliberate preparations to meet
it. He marched northwards at the head of his army, and
confronted the enemies of his country at Moyrath, now
Moira in the county of Down. Here was fought, in 637,
one of the most sanguinary battles recorded in Irish his-
tory. It lasted for six successive days and terminated in
the total defeat of the invaders. Congal fell fiercely
fighting at the head of his forces; and his army was
almost annihilated. An ancient Irish historical romance
on this great battle has been translated and edited by
John O'Donovan.
Again in 664 the terrible yellow plague swept over
Ireland, after having desolated England from south to
north. For three years it raged. Among its victims
were the two joint kings of Ireland — Dermot and Blath-
mac — the king of Munster, and a vast number of ecclesi-
astics ; and when it ceased, the annalists say that only a
third of the people remained alive (see p. 151).
The Irish kings had continued to exact the Bom
tribute from the Leinstermen, who struggled manfully
against it to the last, sometimes with signal success, and
sometimes sufiering disastrous defeats. On the accession
of Finaghta the Festive, in 674, he likewise claimed the
tribute ; and when they resisted, he defeated them iu
battle at Logore in Meath. But the iniquity of the tax,
and the evils resulting from it, seem at last to have
revolted the public mind ; for soon after, at the earnest
solicitation of St. Moling, the monarch solemnly renounced
the Boru for himself and his successors. At the close of
this century (697), the Mordal or great convention of the
154
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Pari IL
chief men of Ireland both lay and clerical was held in
Tara at the instance of St. Adamnan, who persuaded them
to pass the very necessary law by which women were pro-
hibited from taking part in wars (p. 45).
The generous action of Finaghta did not end the Boru
tribute. After the lapse of two reigns, the monarch
Fergal, in spite of his predecessor's solemn decision,
demanded the tribute ; and on refusal he raised an army
of 21,000 men among theHy Neill to enforce his demand.
The Leinster king, who had only 9,000 men, appears to
have out-generalled the monarch. Anyhow in the battle
that followed — which was fought in 722 at the historic
hill of Allen in Kildare — the royal forces were utterly
defeated, and king Fergal himself and 7,000 of his men
were slain.
But not long afterwards the Leinstermen paid dearly
for this victory. When Aed (or Hugh) Allen, the son of
Fergall, became king, he lost no time in raising an army
to avenge the defeat and death of his father. He engaged
the Leinster army at Ath-Snanaigh [Ath-Shanny], now
Ballyshannon in Kildare, and nearly exterminated them :
A.D. 738. Nine thousand of their men fell : and Aed
Mac Colgan, one of the princes who had led the Leinster-
men at Allen sixteen years before, ' was slain in single
combat by king Aed Allen.
In the next two chapters will be sketched the state
of religion and learning during the early ages of the
Irish Church : the Secular History will be resumed in
Chapter VII.
Chap. V, 155
CHAPTER V
EDUCATION AND SCH00L3
[Chief anthorities for Chaps. V. and VI. : — Lanigan's Eccl. Hist. ; Most
Rev. Dr. Healy's Ireland's Anc. Schools and Scholars ; Todd's St.
Patk. ; Miss Stokes's Six Months in the Apennines ; Reeves's
Adamnan, and Eccl. Antiq. of Down, Connor, and Dromore ;
Trip. Life of St. Patk. t>7 Stokes ; Martyrol. of Donegal ;
Cambrens. Eversus; Four Ma<t. ; O'Curry'sMS. Mat. and Mann, and
Cast. ; Professor Stokes's Ireland and the Celtic Church ; Cai-d.
Moran's Papers in 1st vol. of Trans. Ossory Arch. Soc. ; Shear-
man's Loc. Patriciana ; Very Rev. Canon O'Hanlon's Lives of the
Irish Saints ; Keating's Hist, of Irel. ; Brehon Laws.]
In ancient Ireland education and religion went hand in
hand, so that in tracing their history it is impossible to
separate them. There were indeed some purely lay schools,
but they were nearly all professional. By far the greatest
part of the education of the country was carried on by, or
under the direction of, priests and monks of the various
orders, who combined religious with secular teaching. ,
Before I proceed to give a particular account of the rise
and progress of the Irish schools, it may be better to
sketch the leading features of the ancient Irish educational
systems so far as they are known to us.
The schools of Ireland were mainly of three classes : —
those carried on at the public expense ; those in connection
with monasteries ; and schools kept by private individuals
or families, which were mostly professional. At the con-
vention of Drumketta, a.d. 574, an attempt was made to
reorganise the system of public education. The scheme,
which is described in detail by Keating,* was devised by
the ard-ollave or chief poet of all Ireland, Dalian Forgaill,
the author of the Amra on St, Columkille. There was
to be a chief school or college for each of the five provinces ;
and under these a number of minor colleges, one in each
tuath or cantred. They were all endowed with lands, and
all persons who needed it should get free education in
them. These schools were for general education : and it
' Reign of Hugh Mac Ainmire: O'Mahony's Keating, p. 455.
156
lEELAKD UNDER NATIVE RULERS
PabtIL
is probable that the heads of most of them were laymen.
How far this special scheme was carried out and succeeded
we are not told.
Of the monastic schools we have full information.
These were seminaries founded by saints of the early Irish
church, nearly all of whom were subsequently celebrated
in the ecclesiastical history of the country. But though
the teaching was mainly ecclesiastical, it was by no means
exclusively so : for besides divinity, the study of the Scrip-
tures, and classics, for those intended for the church, the
students were instructed in Gaelic grammar and literature,
history, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music.
Accordingly these schools were attended not only by
ecclesiastical students, but also by numbers of young men
not intended for the church, who came to get a good
general education } Sometimes, indeed, we find an eminent
layman at the head of the professional staff of a college
under ecclesiastical management : for example, Flann the
annalist (p. 27) — who died in 1056 — was fer-leginn or
chief professor of the great school of Monasterboice ; from
which he is known to this day as Flann of the Monastery ;
and the poet Mac Cosse held a similar position a century
earlier in the school of Ross Ailithir. And the minor
positions were often held by lay teachers.
In the Book of Ballymote there is an interesting tract
called the * Book of the Ollaves,' which gives an account
of the working of the schools.^ According to this the
whole course taught, including all the various branches —
history, law, medicine, music, poetry, &c. — was called
Filidecht or philosophy. It was divided into twelve
stages, each stage for one year : thus the full course, of
which the final stage was that for ollave or doctor in
Filidecht, occupied twelve years. Before obtaining this
the candidate had to gain several subordinate degrees one
after another, like the successive degrees of a modern
university. If a course of twelve years seems long, we
must bear in mind, first that young persons did not begin
' O'Cnrry, Mann, and fust. i. 83, 170.
' IHd. i. 171, where the sabjects for the several years are given.
Chap.V. education AND SCHOOLS 157
tbeir schooling till they were grown boys, so that the
twelve years included the time for mere elementary educa-
tion : and secondly, it was only those who advanced to the
degree of ollave that remained the full time.
The ollave of Filidecht should be master of history,
genealogy, and synchronisms : he should know the seven
different species of poetry and the seven kinds of verse
construction : and he should be able to improvise, i.e. to
compose verses extempore on any subject proposed. He
was to know by heart seven times fifty historical tales, so
as to be able at a moment's notice to recite any that
happened to be called for, for the entertainment of chiefs
and people at feasts and assemblies.^ Certain smaller
numbers of tales — from twenty upwards — were prescribed
for the several subordinate degrees. A professor of one or
more branches of Filidecht was a file [filla] : but the word
file was more commonly used to designate simply a poet.
A Seanchaidhe [shanachy] or historian was a person spe-
cially learned in history, genealogy, and antiquities, and
also skilled in reciting stories.
' Ollave ' was the title of the highest degree in any art
or profession : thus we read of an ollave builder, an ollave
goldsmith, an ollave physician, an ollave lawyer, and so
forth, just as we have in modern times doctors of music, of
philosophy, of medicine, &c. It would appear that in order
to attain a special degree of this kind, a candidate had to
exhibit his work to one or more eminent ollaves, and if the
judgment were favourable, the king formally conferred the
degree. A king kept at his court an ollave of each pro-
fession, whose stipends are laid down in the Brehon law.
The law also set forth the exact remuneration for each
particular work of an ollave. The special duty of the
king's shanachy was to keep a faithful record of the genea-
logy of the royal family and all its branches.
The head of a college, who had himself passed through
and was supposed to know the whole course, was the Fer~
leyinn or Brurrv-cli or chief professor. Under him were
special professors — of history, of poetry, of grammar, of
' Brehon Lcms, i. 45.
158 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Part IL
divinity, &c. — whose teaching and whose functions were
more restricted. They were of various degrees of scholar-
ship, according to the rank they had attained in the
twelve-stage curriculum. Most of the learned men com-
memorated in our annals were teachers — either for life or
for some time — in the schools.
Besides the two classes of schools already mentioned,
there were, under laymen, many private secular schools —
no doubt the representatives of the public schools of the
time of Dalian Forgaill. Most of these were professional —
for law, for medicine, for history and antiquities, &c. — sub-
jects which were commonly taught by members of the same
family for generations. In later times — towards the six-
teenth century — many such schools flourished under the
families of O'Mulconry, O'Coffey, Mac Egan, O'Clery,
and others. Some were self-supporting ; some were aided
with grants of land by the chiefs of the districts. It
would appear that a lay college generally comprised three
distinct schools, held in three different houses near each
other. The three schools traditionally said to have been
founded by Cormac Mac Art are mentioned in Chap. II.
page 132. St. Bricin's College at Tomregan near Bally-
connell in Cavan, founded in the seventh century, com-
prised a school for law, one for classics, and one for
poetry and general Gaelic learning — each school under
a distinct fer-Uginn or head professor. And coming down
to a much later period, we know that in the fifteenth
century the O'Clerys of Donegal kept three schools —
namely, for literature, for history, and for poetry.
Besides schools for general education there were tech-
nical or professional schools taught by laymen. Campion,
in 1571, notices those for law and medicine : — ' They speake
Latine like a vulgar tongue, learned in their common schools
of leach-craft and law, whereat they begin [as] children,
and hold on sixteene or twenty yeares, conning by roate the
Aphorismes of Hypocrates and the Civill Institutions, and a
few other parings of these two faculties.' *
Many interesting particulars of the schools and of the
' Campion, Historie of Ireland, ed. 1809, p. 25.
Chap. V. EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS 159
manner of life of the scholars have reached us. Some
students lived in the houses of the people of the neighbour-
hood. A few resided in the college itself — those for
instance who were literary foster children of the masters.
When the scholars were very numerous they often lived in
little houses built mostly by themselves around and near
the school. The huts of the scholars of St. Movi of
Glasnevin near Dublin extended along the banks of the
river Tolka near the present bridge. The poorer scholars
sometimes lived in the same houses with the rich ones,
whom they waited on and served — often not so much
through necessity as for an exercise of discipline — receiv-
ing in return food, clothing, and other necessaries. As
illustrating this phase of school life an interesting story is
told in the Life of King Finaghta the Festive. A little
before his accession, he was riding one day towards Clonard
with his retinue, when they overtook a boy with a jar of
milk on his back. The youth attempting to get out of the
way, stumbled and fell, and the jar was broken and the
milk spilled. The cavalcade passed on without noticing
him ; hut he ran after them in great affliction with a
piece of the jar on his back, till at last he attracted the
notice of the prince, who halted and questioned him in a
good-humoured way. The boy not knowing whom he was
addressing, told his story with amusing .plainness: —
* Indeed, good man, I have much cause to be troubled.
There are living in one house near the college three noble
students, and three others that wait on them, of whom I
am one ; and we three attendants have to collect provisions
in the neighbourhood in turn for the whole six. It was
my turn to-day ; and lo, what I have obtained has been
lost ; and this vessel which I borrowed has been broken,
and I have not the means to pay for it.'
The prince soothed him, told him his loss should be
made good, and promised to look after him in the future.
This boy was Adamnan, subsequently a most distinguished
man, ninth abbot of lona, and the writer of the Life of
St. Columba. The prince kept his word : and after he
became king invited Adamnan to his court, where the
160 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULEES Pabt IL
rising young ecclesiastic became his trusted friend and
spiritual adviser.'
There were no spacious lecture halls such as we have :
the masters taught and lectured, and the scholars studied,
very much in the open air, when the weather permitted.
There were no prizes and no cramming for competitive
examinations, for learning was pursued for its own sake.
In every college there was a steward to manage food, fees,
and other such matters. In all the schools, whether public
or private, a large proportion of the students got both
books and education free ; but those who could afford it
paid for everything.
It was the practice of many eminent teachers to com-
pose educational poems embodying the leading facts of
history or of other branches of instruction. These poems
having been committed to memory by the scholars, were
commented on and explained by their authors. Flann of
Monasterboice followed this plan, and we have still a copy
of one of his educational poems preserved in the Book of
Lecan. He also used his synchronisms for the same purpose.
In the Book of Leinster there is a curious geogiaphical
poem forming a sort of class-book of general geography,
which was used in the great school of Ross Ailithir in
Cork, written in the tenth century by Mac Cosse the fer-
leginn.^ The reader need scarcely be reminded that
teachers of the present day sometimes adopt the same
plan, especially in teaching history. In all the schools
the native Irish and Latin were carefully studied; and
much of the historical literature that remains to us is a
mixture of Latin and Gaelic, both languages being used
with equal facility. Greek we know was also studied
with success from a very early date.'
The sons of kings commonly attended the public
colleges. But in case of kings of high rank, the young
• O'Curry, Mann. Jind Oust. i. 79 ; R&eves,Adamnan, xlii.
• Published with transl. by the Rev. Thomas Olden, in Proc. R. I.
Acad, for 1879-1888, p. 219.
• See the paper on ' The Knowledge of Greek in Ireland between A.D.
600 and 900,' by the Rev. G. T. btokes, D.D., in Froe. R. I. Acad. 1892,
p. 187.
Oiu» 7. EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS IGl
princes were generally educated at home: the teacher
then resided at court and always took rank with the
highest. Some of these tutors, when their pupils sub-
sequently came to the throne, were advanced to high rank
in the state. For example, when Hugh Ordnidhe [Ordnee]
became king of Ireland, A.D. 797, he made his tutor —
Fothad of the Canon (p. 190) — his chief poet and counsellor.
The Brehon law took cognisance of the schools in
several important particulars. It prescribed the studies
for the several degrees. It laid down what seems a very
necessary provision for the protection of the masters, that
they should not be answerable for the misdeeds of their
scholars except in one case only, namely, when the scholar
was a foreigner and paid for his food and education. The
masters had a claim on their literary foster children for
support in old age, if poverty rendered it necessary ; and
in accordance with this provision, we find it recorded that
St. Mailman of Tallaght was tenderly nursed in his old
age by his pupil Aengus the Culdee.
Men of learning were held in high estimation, and au
ollave in Filidecht had several valuable privileges. He
sat at table next to the king or next to the highest chief
present. He had a standing income of ' twenty-cine cows
and their grass' in the territory of the chief of the district
where he lived, besides many valuable special allowances.
On his journeys he was attended by subordinate tutoi-s,
advanced pupils, and servants, for all of whom — to the
number of twenty-four — he was allowed food and lodging ;
and he was not permitted to lodge in the house of anyone
below the rank of jiaith or noble.^ A fugitive who fled to
his presence was free from injury or arrest for the time,
once the ollave's wand of office was carried round and over
him. Those of minor degrees had similar proportionate
privileges which were strictly defined by law.
» O'Carry, MS. Mat. 3.
162
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
PabtIL
CHAPTER VI
RELIGION AND LEARNING
During the lifetime of St. Patrick there was extraordi-
nary religious fervour in Ireland which lasted for several
centuries, such as, probably, has never been witnessed in
any other country. There gathered round the great
apostle a crowd of holy and earnest men, who, when they
passed away, were succeeded by others as holy and as
earnest : and the long succession continued unbroken for
centuries. To enter the ecclesiastical state and take an
active part in the great religious movement was the
ambition of the best intellects of the country. We have
the lives of those men pictured in minute detail in our
old writings : and it is impossible to look on them without
feelings of wonder and admiration. They were wholly
indifferent to bodily comfort or to advancement in worldly
prosperity. They traversed the country on foot and en-
dured without flinching privations and dangers of every
kind for the one object of their lives — to spread religion
and civilisation among their rude countrymen. They
carried, in a little sack strapped on the back, the few
simple necessaries for their journey, or the books and
other requisites for religious ministration ; and when at
home in their monasteries, many lived and slept in poor
comfortless little houses, the remains of which may be seen
to this day — places we should now hesitate to house our
animals in. The lot of the poorest and hardest-worked
labouring man of our time is luxury itself compared with
the life of many of those noble old missionaries. But even
these were left in the shade by those resolute Irishmen
who went in crowds, in the seventh and eighth centuries,
to preach the gospel to the half-savage, ferocious, and
vicious people who then inhabited Gaul, North Italy, and
Germany.
Chap. VL RELIGION AND LEARNING 163
The spread of the faith suffered no check by the death
of St. Patrick. Churches, monasteries, and convents con-
tinued to be founded all over the country, many under the
patronage and at the expense of kings and chiefs. The
founders of monasteries in Ireland may be said to have
been of two classes. Those of the one class settled in the
inhabited districts, and took on themselves and their
monks the functions of education and religious ministra-
tion to the people of the neighbourhood and to those who
came from a distance. Those of the other class gave
themselves up to a life of prayer and contemplation ; and
these took up their abode in remote, lonely, uninhabited
islands or mountain valleys, places generally hard to
reach and often almost inaccessible. Here they lived with
their little communities in cells, one for each individual,
poor little places, mostly built by themselves, barely large
enough to sit, stand, and sleep in. They supported them-
selves by their labour, lived on hard fare, slept on the
bare floor, and occupied their spare time in devotions.
There was a very pronounced tendency in Ireland to this
solitary monastic life in the early Christian ages ; and the
custom, which came originally from the East, extended to
England and Scotland. On almost all the islands round
the coast, as well as on those in the lakes and rivers — many
of them mere bare rocks — the remains of churches and of
primitive eremitical establishments are found to this day.
But many who began life in this way had, as it were
perforce, to turn to the active work of teaching. For the
fame of their holiness and eminence spread abroad whether
they would or no : and disciples crowded round them, till
schools, and perhaps towns, arose in the lonely islands or
desert valleys. This was the origin of the great monastic
and scholastic establishments of Glendalough, Cork, Scat-
tery, and Aran, as well as of those of several other places.
From the middle of the sixth century schools rapidly
arose all over the country, most of them in connection with
monasteries. The most celebrated were those of Clonard,
Armagh, Bangor, Cashel, Downpatrick, Ross Ailithir now
Uosscarbery, Lismore, Glendalough, Clomnacnqise, Monas-
u 2
164
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Pabt n.
terboice, Clonfert, Glasnevin, and Begerin : these and
others will be mentioned at the end of this chapter. But
almost all the monasteries — and convents as well — carried
on the function of teaching. Some had very large numbers
of students: for instance, we are told that at one time
there were 3,000 under St. Finnen at Clonard ; and some
other schools had as many. In those great seminaries
every branch of knowledge then known was taught : they
were in fact the prototypes of our modem universities.
* We must neither overestimate nor depreciate these
establishments. They undoubtedly were in advance of
any schools existing on the Continent ; and the list of books
possessed by some of the teadhers prove that their institu-
tions embraced a considerable course of classical learning.' '
In all the more important schools there were students
from foreign lands, attracted by the eminence of the
masters or by the facilities for quiet uninterrupted study.
The greatest number came from Great Britain — they came
in fleet-loads as Aldhelm bishop of Sherborne (a.d. 705 to
709) expresses it in his letter to his friend Eadfrid bishop
of Lindisfame, who had himself been educated in Ireland.^
Many also were from the Continent. Among the foreign
visitors were many princes : Aldfrid king of North-
umbria and Dagobert II. king of France were both,
when in exile in the seventh century, educated in Ireland.'
It appears that Aldfrid while in Ireland was called Flann
Finna ; and there is still extant a very ancient Irish poem
in praise of Ireland, said to have been composed by him :
it has been translated by O'Donovan in the ' Dublin Penny
Journal,' vol. i. p. 94, and metrically by J. Clarence
Mangan. We get some idea of the numbers of foreigners
from the ancient Litany of Aengus the Culdee, in which
we find invoked many Romans, Gauls, Germans, Britons,
and even Egyptians, all of whom died in Ireland. It is
known that in times of persecution Egyptian monks fled
» Richey's Short Hist, of the Irish People, 1887, p. 83.
' Most Rev. Dr. Graves, in Tran*. R. I, Acad. vol. zzx. p. 100^
quoting Ussher (Elrington's ed.), iv. 448-451.
* Lanijfan, FascI. Hint. iii. 00, 100.
Chap. VL RELIGION AND LEAENINO 165
to Ireland ; and they have left; in the country many traces
of their influence. In the same Litany of Aengus mention
is made of seven Egyptian monks buried in one place.'
And in the Life of St, Senan we are told that at one time
fifty Roman monks settled in Ireland in order to lead a quiet
life of study and strict discipline. There is a passage in
Venerable Bede's ' Ecclesiastical History ' which corrobo-
rates the native records. Describing the ravages of the
yellow plague in 664 he says : — * This pestilence did no
less harm in the island of Ireland. Many of the^ nobility
and of the lower ranks of the English nation were there at
that time who in the days of Bishops Finan and Colman
[abbots of Lindisfame, p. 166] forsaking their native
island, retired thither, either for the sake of divine studies
or of a more continent life : and sdci^e of them presently
devoted themselves to a monastic life : others chose rather
to apply themselves to study, going about from one
master's cell to another. The Scots willingly received
them all, and took care to supply them with food, as also
to furnish them with books to read, and their teaching, all
gratis.' ^ We know that one of the three divisions of the
city of Armagh was called Triarv-Saxon^ the Saxon's third,
from the great number of Saxon students inhabiting it ;
and we learn incidentally also that in the eighth century
seven streets of a town called Kil bally near Rahan in
King's County were wholly occupied by Oalls or foreigners.'
How much respected were the Irish scholars of this
period is exemplified in a correspondence of the end of
the eighth century between the illustrious scholar Alcuin
and Colcu the Fer-leginn or chief professor of Clonmacnoise,
commonly known as Colcu the Wise. He was regarded as
the most learned man of his time in Ireland, and we have
extant a beautiful Irish prayer composed by him.* Alcuin
m his letters expresses extraordinary respect for him,
styles him ' Most holy father,' calls himself his son, and
* Dr. Graves, in Proc. R. T. Acad. 1884, p. 280. Observe the Litany
of Aengus is to be distinguished from his Feilire.
* Heel. Hist. iii. chap, xxvii. Bohn's Translation.
Petrie, Hoimd Towers, 365. « O'Cuny, MS. Mat. 379.
166
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Past H.
sends him presents for charitable purposes, some from
himself and some from his great master Charlemagne.*
In the course of three or four centuries from the time of
St. Patrick Ireland became the most learned country in
Europe : and it came to be known by the name now so
familiar to us — Insula sanctorum et doctorum, the Island of
saints and scholars.
Great numbers of Irishmen went to teach and to
preach the gospel in Great Britain, Wales, and Scotland.
St. Aidan, an Irish monk from lona, went to Northumbria
on the invitation of king Oswald — who had himself lived
for some time as an exile in Ireland — and founded the
monastery of Lindisfarne, which became so illustrious in
after ages. For thirty years — 634 to 664 — this monastery
was governed by him and by two other Irish bishops,
Finan and Colraan, in succession. Bede has an interesting
passage in which he tells us that as Aidan on his arrival
in Northumbria was only imperfectly acquainted with the
language, king Oswald, who had learned the Irish while
in Ireland, often acted as his interpreter to the people,^
ThenirS good reason to believe that Cuthbert of Lindis-
farne, one of the most illustrious of the saints of Britain,
was a native of Ireland.
On every side we meet with evidences of the activity
of the Irish in Great Britain. Scotland was evangelised
by St. Columba and his monks from lona, and the whole
western coasts of England and Wales abound in memorials
of Irish missionaries. Numbers of the most illustrious of
the Irish saints studied and taught in the monastery of
St. David in Wales ; and it was under the tuition of the
Irish monks of Glastonbury that the genius of St. Dunstan
was developed and his learning perfected.' * Many of the
Scots came daily into Britain, and with great devotion
preached the word to those provinces of the English over
which king Oswald reigned.' * We may conclude the
" Lanigan, iii. 229. * JEecl. Hi^. iii. chaps, iii. and xxv.
" See the series of Papers on ' Early Irish Missionaries in Britain,'
by the Most Rev. Dr. Moran, in vol. i. of Tremt. of Ostory Aroh. Hoc,
* Bede, iii. chap. vii.
Chai-. VI. RELIGION AND LEARNING 167
remarks on this head with the words of Mr. Lecky : —
' England owed a great part of her Christianity to Irish
monks who laboured among her people before the arrival
of St. Augustine.' '
Whole crowds of ardent and learned Irishmen travelled
to the Continent, spreading Christianity and secular know-
ledge among people ten times more rude and dangerous in
those ages than the inhabitants of these islands. ^ What,'
says Eric of Auxerre (ninth century), ' what shall I say of
Ireland, who despising the dangers of the deep, is migrat-
ing with almost her whole train of philosophers to our
coasts ? ' ' Irish professors and teachers were in those
times held in such estimation that they were employed in
most of the schools and colleges of Great Britain, France,
Germany, and Italy. The revival of learning on the
Continent was indeed due in no small degree to those
Irish missionaries ; and the investigations of scholars
among the continental libraries are every year bringing to
light new proofs of their industry and zeal for the advance-
ment of religion and learning. To this day, in many
tdwns of France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, Irish-
men are venerated as patron saints. Nay, they found their
way even to Iceland ; for we have the best authority for
the statement that when the Norwegians first arrived at
that island, they found there Irish books, belle, croziers,
and other traces of Irish missionaries, whom the Nor-
wegians-ctdled Papas. ^ ^
The organisation of the Irish church was modelled on
that of society in general: it was tribal. BiMiops and
priests did not receive authority over districts as now ;
they were attached to tribes, clans, churches, and monas-
teries. ' In Patrick's Testament [it is decreedjthat there
be a chief bishop for every chief tribe in Ireland, to
ordain ecclesiastics, to consecrate churches, and for the
' Hitt. of Irel. in \%th Cent, i 2. See also the thr0e instractive
chapters xvi. xvii. and xviii. of Lynch's Cambrensig Evenus.
* Moore, Hist, of Irel. i. 299.
* Moore Higt. cf Irel. ii. 3, 4. For a full and very interesting
account of the vestiges of Irish saints in North Italy, see;, the recent
work, Six MorUht in the Aj>enm7ic*, by Miss Margaret Stokes.
168 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Pakt IL
spiritual direction of princes, superiors, and ordained
•'■persons.' ' The territorial jurisdiction of the clergy over
dioceses and parishes, such as we have now, did not exist
in the ancient Irish church : this was introduced early in
the twelfth century. As the episcopate was not limited,
bishops were much more numerous in those early times
than subsequently.
The reciprocal obligations of clergy and laity as we
find it laid down in the Brehon law resemble those of .
chief and people. The law says : — The right of a church
from the people is: 1. Tithes; 2. First fruits, i.e. the
firat of the gathering of every new produce, and every
first calf and every first lamb that is brought forth in
the year ; 3. Firstlings, i.e. the first son born after
marriage (who was to enter religion) and the first-bom
male of all milk-giving animals. On the other hand the
rights of the people from the clergy were ' baptism, and
Communion, and requiem of soul : ' that is to say, spiritual
ministration in general.^
The head of a monastery was both abbot and chief
over the community. For spiritual direction and for the
higher spiritual functions, a bishop was attached to every
large monastery and nunnery. The abbot, in his capacity
of chief, had jurisdiction over the bishop ; but in the
spiritual capacity he was under the bishop's jurisdiction.
But the abbot himself might be a bishop ; in which case
no other bishop was necessary.
The mode of electing a successor to an abbot strongly
resembled that for the election of chief. He should be
chosen from the fivi^ or family of the patron saint ; if for
any reason this was impossible, then fix)m the tribe in
general ; and if none were found fit in these two, one of the
monks was to be elected.' One consequence of the tribal
organisation was a tendency to hereditary succession in
ecclesiastical or semi-ecclesiastical offices, as in the pro-
fessions. The office of erenach for instance was here-
ditary; and in times of confusion — during the Danish
' Tripartite Life, by Stokes, clxxxii.
* Brehon Laws, iii. 33, 39. » Ibid. iii. 73, 76.
Chap. VI. EELIOION AND LEARNING . 1C9
disturbances — the offices of bishop and abbot were kept in
the same family for generations. Nay even laymen often
succeeded to both ; but this was in the capacity of chief;
and they sometimes had the tonsure of the minor orders,
so that they got the name of clerics. But such men had
properly ordained persons to discharge the spiritual
functions.
The Irish word comorba, commonly Englished eoarbj
means an heir or successor : but it was usually applied to
the inheritor of a bishopric, abbacy, or other ecclesiastical
dignity. Thus the archbishop of Armagh is the coarb of
St. Patrick ; the archbishop of Dublin the coarb of St.
Laurence O'Toole ; the bishop of Ardagh is the coarb of
St, Mel ; the abbot of Glendalough was the coarb of St.
Kevin ; and the pope is often called the coarb of St. Peter.
The coarbs were sometimes laymen, as already mentioned.
The lands belonging to a church or monastery were
usually managed by an officer called an erenach or
herenach, who, after deducting his own stipend, gave up
the residue for the purposes intended — the support of the
church or the relief of the poor. It was generally under-
stood to be the duty of the erenach to keep the church
clean and in proper repair, and the grounds in order.
There were erenachs in connection with nearly all the
monasteries and churches ; mostly laymen.
The term culdee, which literally means servant of Gody
was often applied in Ireland to monks to indicate a veiy
rigid observance of monastic rule ; but it was not used to
designate any particular order of monks.
From very early times there was a difference between the
East and the West as to the mode of calculating the time
for Easter, so that it often happened that it was celebrated
at different times at Rome and at Alexandria. The
Roman method of computation, which was afterwards
found to be incorrect, was brought to Ireland by St.
Patrick in 432 ; and was carried to Britain and Scotland
by the Irish missionaries. Many years after St. Patrick's
arrival in Ireland, Pope Hilary caused a more correct
method to be adopted at Rome, which it was intended
170 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Part H,
should be followed by all other Christian countries. But
from the difficulty of communicating with Rome in those
disturbed times, the Christians of Great Britain and Ireland
knew nothing of this reformation, and continued to follow
their own old custom : and when St. Augustine and his
companions came to England about the year 600, they
were much surprised and disturbed to find the people
celebrating Easter at a wrong time.
The correct rule then as now was this. The day for
the Easter festival is regulated by the 14th day of the
moon, viz. that particular 14th day that comes first after
the vernal equinox (21st March) : the first Sunday after
that day is Easter Sunday. The Irish custom as brought
by St. Patrick was incorrect in two ways. First, by the
mode of calculating the moon's age, the day of new moon,
and by consequence the 14th day, were often placed
wrong : secondly, if the 14th day that comes next after
the vernal equinox happened to fall on a Sunday, they
made that Sunday Easter day, though it should be the
Sunday following. This was the custom as handed down
to them from the great and venerated apostles St. Patrick
and St. Columba, which they steadfastly refused to change
notwithstanding the exhortations of St. Augustine.
At this time St. Columbanus was in France, where he
and his monks celebrated Easter in accordance with his
native custom. This brought on him the censures of the
Gallican bishops, whereupon he wrote two letters in succes-
sion— in 601 and 603 — one to the pope and the other to
the bishops, defending the Irish practice with great learn-
ing and spirit : and having received no directions on the
point, he continued his own custom to the last.
In 609 Laurence archbishop of Canterbury, St.
Augustine's successor, wrote to the Irish bishops and
abbots, exhorting them to change, but without effect. At
last the attention of the pope, Honorius I., was called to
the matter ; and in 630 he wrote an admonitory letter to
'the nation of the Scots,' calling on them to adopt the
Eoman method. On the receipt of this letter a synod was
held at Moylena in 630, where Cummian, an Irish monk
Chap. VI. RELIGION AND LEARNING
171
of Darrow, pleaded so powerfully for the correct Roman
method that they were on the point of adopting it, when
some mischievous person rose up and roused the Irish
prejudices of the assembly, and the proceedings were
adjourned. Soon after, another synod was held at a place
called Campus Albus near Carlow, where the matter was
still left undecided. But now it was determined — in accord-
ance with the rule of St, Patrick (p. 144, note) — to send
a deputation of wise and learned persons to Rome, ' as
children to their mother.' Meantime Cummian brought
on himself the censures of the abbot and monks of the
monastery of lona, for the part he had taken ; and he
wrote a letter to the abbot, defending himself and arguing
in favour of the Roman method. This letter is still pre-
served and exhibits great learning and eloquence.
At the end of three years, in 633, the messengers re-
turned and declared that the custom of Rome was the cus-
tom of the world ; for they had there seen Christians of all
nations celebrating Easter on the same day, which, in
that particular year, differed from that of the trish by an
entire month. The result of this was that the people of
Leth Mow — the southern half of Ireland — immediately
adopted the Roman method. But lona and Leth Conn
had too much reverence for Columba to make a change,
and they still clung tenaciously to their old custom. It
was also retained at Liudisfame through the influence of
the Irish bishops of the place. Still the contifoversy was
kept up ; and when the celebrated conference held at Whitby
in 664 decided in favour of the Roman method, Colman
bishop of Lindisfarne, who was present, resigned the
government of the monastery rather thajj abandon the
Irish custom, and returned to Ireland with all the Irish
monks of the establishment and about thirty of the English.
At the close of the century Adamnan the ninth abbot of
lona attempted to bring his fraternity to the Roman
method, but without success. He was successfiil however
in the north of Ireland: and now lona alone stood out.
At length they yielded even here, about the year 716, and
thus terminated an observance that had lasted for a century
173 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Pabt It
and a half, and which, though the question was compara-
tively unimportant, had given rise to more earnest contro-
versy than any other during the early ages of the church
in these countries.
For three or four hundred years after the time of St.
Patrick the monasteries — protected and fostered by kings
and chiefs — were unmolested ; and as we have seen,
learning was cultivated within their walls. In the ninth
and tenth and the beginning of the eleventh century,
science and art, the Gaelic language, and learning of every
kind, were brought to their highest state of perfection.
But after this came a change for the worse. The Danish
inroads broke up most of the schools and disorganised all
society. Then the monasteries were no longer the quiet
and safe asylums they had been — ^they became indeed
rather more dangerous than other places ; learning and art
gradually declined ; and Ireland ultimately lost her intel-
lectual supremacy.
Here follows a short account of some of the most emi-
nent early Irish saints and of the establishments they
founded. Only a few of those who distinguished themselves
in foreign countries are noticed : it would take a volume to
treat of them all.
St. Benen or Benignus of Eilbennan, the special patron
saint of Connaught, was born in Bregia about the year 426.
"When a mere boy he became a pupil and disciple of St.
Patrick ; who sent him, when qualified, to preach and baptise
in those districts which he himself was not able to visit.
Having governed the monastery of Drumlease in Leitrim
for twenty years, he erected his principal church at Kilbennan
(Benen's church), which became the nucleus of a monastery
that flourished for many centuries. Its ruins, including a
round tower, are still to be seen two miles from Tuam.
Benen succeeded St. Patrick as archbishop of Armagh in 465,
and died in 468. He was one of the committee of nine who
drew up the Senchus Mor (p 41) ; and he was the original
compiler of the Psalter of Cashel and of the Book of Rights.
He also wrote a book on the life and 'niracles of St. Patrick.
St. Ihco. of Sleaty was the son of Ere, of a distinguished
family of Leinster. When young he became a disciple of
Chap. VI. RELIGION AND LEARNING
173
Puftach the arch- poet, converted by St. Patrick at Tara.
When St. Patrick visited Leinster, Fiacc was* introduced to
him by Duftach, and was directed by the saint how to carry
Oil his studies. He afterwards became chief bishop of
Leinster, and fixed his see {it Sleaty, where he presided over a
monastery and a school. He was held in high estimation and
had many disciples. There is a well-known very ancient
Gaelic hymn in praise of St. Patrick, which some think was
composed by him. Sleaty now contains the ruins of a church
and some ancient crosses.
St. Mel of Ardagh, was bom in Britain early in the fifth
century. By some he is represented as the son of St.
Patrick's sister Darerca : at any rate he became a disciple of
the great apostle, and aided him in his Irish mission. He was
appointed by St. Patrick to Ardagh, where he built a monas-
tery and became its first bishop and abbot. Died in 488.
Ardagh, which lies six miles from Longford, now contains the
ruins of a very ancient church.
St. Cianao, Eeenan, or Xienan, of Doleek, was bom of a
distinguished family, probably in Meath. He was consecrated
bishop by St. Patrick, who also gave him a copy of the
Gospels. He wa« the founder of Duleek in Meath, five miles
south-west from Drogheda, and died in 490. The name
Duleek signifies stone church : and it is stated that this was
the first stone church ever erected in Ireland.
St. Ibar of Begerin was bom in Ulster of the Dalaradian
race. Having followed St. Patrick as disciple for a long time,
and travelled through parts of Munster and Lein^r, and
having been for some time in charge of St. Brigit's community
at Kiidare, he finally settled on the little island of Begerin
(i.e. Little Ireland) near the north shore of Wexford Harbour,
two miles from Wexford town. Here he established a semi-
nary to which the youth of Leinster flocked for instruction.
He died in 500 ; and the monastery he founded flourished for
many centuries afterwards. Begerin, which is now surrounded
by reclaimed land, contains the ruins of a church, and some
ancient crosses.
St. Ailbe of Emly, a native of Munster, became a priest at
a very early age, and travelled through Ireland, making many
converts. While St. Patrick was at Cashel with king Aengus
Mac Natfree he ordained Ailbe a bishop — the first bishop of
Emly — and made him the ecclesiastical head of all Munster.
Ailbe however being very gentle and humble, greatly disliked
174 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS PabtH.
his increasing reputation, ana resolved to retire to a monas*
tery. But king Aengus refused to let him go, whereupon he
settled down at Emly, where he founded a monastery and
established a school, and spent the rest of his life labouring
incessantly for the good of religion and learning.
Ailbe was looked upon as the most illustrious saint of
Munster, so that he was often styled a second Patrick ; and
to this day the people of that province regard him with extra-
ordinary respect and affection. In after ages the students of
the school became very numerous, and Emly grew to be a city;
but it is now only a little hamlet.
St. Declan of Ardmore, a contemporary of St. Ailbe, was
the son of Ere prince of the Decies. While yet a young man
he obtained such reputation for learning that several disciples
placed themselves under his instruction, some of whom them-
selves afterwards became famous. "He was consecrated a
bishop, and ultimately settled at Ardmore. He is the patron
of the people of Decies, who hold him to this day in great
veneration. Ardmore, where the establishment founded by the
saint flourished for ages, is a small village on the sea coast
five miles from Youghal. It contains the remains of a very
old church, and near it a well-preserved round tower : also
Declan's oratory or dormitory, one of the smallest ecclesias-
tical buildings in Ireland.
St. Mochta or Ail octeus of Louth, a native of Britain, was a
disciple of St. Patrick. He founded a church and monastery
and carried on a school at Louth in the county Louth, and
while governing here was consecrated bishop. He was prob-
ably the last survivor of St. Patrick's disciples : died in 534.
St. Brigit of Kildare was born about the year 455 at
Faughart near Dundalk, where her father, who was chief of
the district, lived. She became a nun when very young : and
soon the fame of her sanctity spread through the whole
country. Having founded convents in various parts of Ire-
land, she finally settled — about the year 480— at a place in
Leinster then called Drumcree. Here she built her first cell
under the shade of a great oak-tree, whence it got the name
of Kill-dara the church of the oak, now Kildare. This
became the greatest and most famous nunnery ever esta-
blished in Ireland. She died on the 1st of February 523 ; and
the oak-tree, which she loved, was preserved there affection-
ately for several hundred years after. St. Brigit is venerate d
in Ireland beyond all other Irishwomen ; and there are places
Chap. VI.
RELIGION AND LEARNING
175
all through the country still called Kilbride and Kilbreedy
(Brigit's church), which received their names from churches
founded by or in honour of her.
St. Enda or Endeus of Aran was the son of Conall, prince
of Oriell in Ulster, where he was born about the middle of
the fifth century. He was at first a soldier, and being distin-
guished for courage, was chosen tanist to succeed his father ;
but he gave up his worldly prospects for the sake of religion.
He studied for some time in Britain ; and having, after his
return to Ireland, founded some churches near Drogheda, he
finally settled on the great island of Aran in Galway Bay,
where he erected a number of churches all over the island.
Died about 542. So great was the number of learned and
holy men who lived then and after on this island that it came
to be called Ara-na-naemh [naive], Aran of the saints ; and
the ruins of many churches and other ecclesiastical buildings
are still to be seen scattered over the island.
St. Ciaran or Eieran of Ossory was born on the island of
Cape Clear, but his father belonged to Ossory. Having spent
some time under the instruction of St, Finnen of Clonard, he
founded a monastery in a solitary spot near Birr which still
bears his name — Seirkieran. Here he became a bishop and
founded the see of Ossory, of which he is the patron saint.
Several other churches owe their origin to him, and he is much
venerated in Ossory as well as in Cape Clear Island. On the
sea shore of this island stands the ruin of a little church, and
near it a rude stone cross said to have been made by the saint's
own hands. The exact times of his birth and death are
unknown ; but he was contemporary with St. Finnen of
Clonard, and his death probably occurred soon after 550.
It was formerly believed that the four saints Ibar, Ailbe,
Declan, and Kieran (of Ossory) preceded St. Patrick in
Ireland ; but this opinion is now known to be erroneous.
St. Finnen of Clonard was bom in Leinster towards the
close of the fifth century, and like several other Irish saints,
he spent some time in early life in Britain, teaching and
preaching the gospel. After his return he founded churches
in several parts of Leinster ; and at last settled at Clonard, a
lovely quiet spot on the Boyne. Here he founded his chief
monastery and kept a school, and here he became, bishop and
abbot. He was a great and learned man — the first of that
long line of great scholars who made Ireland famous in those
ages — and crowds of students flocked to him, so that at one
176 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Pakt H,
time he had 3,000 scholars, and Clonard became the most
celebrated of the ancient schools of Ireland. Many of the
most illustrious fathers of the Irish church were educated by
him, among them being the ' Twelve Apostles of Erin.' He
is called in O'Clery's Calendar ' a doctor of wisdom and the
tutor of the saints of Ireland in his time.' He died of the
yellow plague in 549. The spot where St. Finnen's great
establishment stood is a beautiful green meadow beside the
Boyne ; and of all the buildings erected there in old times,
not the slightest vestige now remains.
N.B. The * Twelve Apostles of Erin * were : — Kieran of
Saigher or Seir Kieran ; Kieran of Clonmacnoise ; Columkille
of lona ; Brendan of Clonfert ; Brendan of Birr ; Columba of
Terryglass in Tipperary ; Molaisse or Laserian of Devenish ;
Canice of Aghaboe ; Rodan of Lorrha ; Movi of Glasnevin ;
Sinnell of Cleenish in Lough Erne, near Enniskillen ; and
St. Nenni of Inishmacsaint in Lough Erne.
St. Ciaran or Kieran of Clonmacnoise, commonly known as
Kieran the son of the carpenter, was bom in Meath in or about
the year 515.^ He lived with and studied under several saints
— among them SS. Finnen of Clonard, Enda of Aran, and
Senan of Scattery. After this he proceeded to Inis-Angin,
now called Hare Island, in the south of Lough Ree, where he
founded a monastery. In 548 he received a grant of a piece
of land in a wild and lonely spot on the eastern bank of the
Shannon, from Dermot the son of Fergus (p. 151), king of
Ireland, where with his own hand he laid the foundation stone
of his principal monastery. The following year (549) he died
in the prime of manhood. Though dying so young, and
though he had not attained the rank of bishop, Ciaran was
one of the most illustrious of the early Irish saints ; and he
is greatly venerated not only in Ireland but in Scotland.
Clonmacnoise increased and flourished for many centuries
after the founder's death ; and it became a great school for
both clerical and lay pupils. The ruins, which include many
churches and two round towers, stand on a height over the
Shannon ; and like several other collections of ecclesiastical
ruins in Ireland, they are popularly called The Seven
Churches.
St. Ita, or Ida, or Hida, of Eilleedy was bom about 480, of
the tribe of the Decies. She was remarkable from childhood
for her gentleness and piety ; and when she came of age she
obtained her parents' consent to adopt a religious life. After
Chap. VI. RELIGION AND LEARNING
177
having received the veil she proceeded to the territory of Hy
Conaill in Limerick, and fixed her residence at a spot called
Cloon-Credhuil [Crail]. Here a large number of piou« maidens
placed themselves under her direction. In this manner sprang
up her nunnery, which was the first in that part of the
country, and which attained to great celebrity : and the name
of the place was changed to Killeedy (St. Ida's church).
Under her other name of Mida she is commemorated in those
churches and places now called Kilmeedy in Cork, Limerick,
and Waterford. She died in 569. St. Ita was one of the
most illustrious saints of an age abounding in illustriotis men
and women ; so that she was often designated the Brigit of
Munster.
Killeedy lies near Newcastle in the west of the co.
Limerick, and at the present day contains St. Ita's Well, and
the ruin of a very ancient and exquisitely beautiful little
church. ^
St. Brendan of Clonfert, commonly called Breiidan the
Navigator, to distinguish him from another Brendan, was the
son of Finloga, and was born in Kerry in 484. In very early
life he was educated by St. Ita and afterwards by Bishop
Ere. Having heard from many persons that there was an
island far out vb. the western sea, he sailed from near Brandon
Mountain in Kerry (which is named from him), on his cele-
brated voyage of seven years in the Atlantic, in which it is
related that he saw many wonderful things.
On his return he founded the monastery of Clonfert in
Galway in 558, where a large community of monks gathered
round him. He also founded a church in Ardfert in Kerry,
and several other religious houses : at one time he presided
over 3,000 monks, who supported themselves by th«r labour in
their several monasteries. He died in 577 in his sister's nun-
nery at Annadown in Galway, which had been founded by
him. Immediately after Brendan's death Clonfert became a
bishopric, and was for many centuries one of Ireland's great
ecclesiastical centres.
St. Senan or Senanns of Scattery, the patron saint
of Clare, was bom in that district in or about 488.
Having studied under St. Natalis of Kilmanagh (in Kil-
kenny), he established his first monastery at Inniscarra on
the Lee above Cork, where he lived with his monks for some
time. He settled finally— about 540— in Inis-Cathaigh
[Uahy], now Scattery Island in the Shannon near Kilrush.
' N
178
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Part TT.
Here gathered round him a community which wa« dis-
tinguished for its strict discipline. One of the rules was that
no female should land on the island ; and it is related in his
Life that when St. Cannera, a virgin saint nearly related to
him, came to Scattery to receive the viaticum from him, he at
first refused to let her land ; and only yielded when he was
informed that she was at the point of death.
St. Kieran of Clonmacnoise visited him here, and remained
some time under his instructions. At his death, which
occurred probably about 560, the clergy of all the neighbour-
ing districts gathered to Scattery to honour his memory, and
his obsequies were celebrated for an entire week. Scattery
Island contains one of the most interesting groups of
ecclesiastical ruins in Ireland, consisting of six or seven
churches and a perfect round tower.
St. Brendan of Birr belonged to a distinguished family of
Munster. In his youth he was educated at St. Finnen's
school of Clonard, where he formed friendship with St. Colum-
kille, the two Kierans, and Brendan of Clonfert. About the
middle of the sixth century he founded a monastery at Birr,
which he governed till his death in 573.
St. larlath of Tnam was the son of Loga, of the Connaught
family of Conmacne, and was born about the beginning of the
sixth century. He first established a monastery at a place
called Gloon-fois near Tuam ; but by the advice of St. Brendan
of Clonfert he removed to Tuam, of which he was the first
bishop. Tuam subsequently became an archiepiscopal see,
which it has remained to this day.
St. Finnen or Finnbarr of Jtaovilla was bom of Christian
parents, of the royal family of Ulster, about the beginning of
the sixth century. He first studied under Irish teachers of
eminence, after which he went to St. Nennio's school in
Britain. He next went to Rome, where he remained for seven
years ; and returning to Ireland he founded his establishment
at Movilla. Here he governed and taught with great success ;
and among his pupils was the youthful Columkille. He be-
came a bishop, and has always been regarded as the patron
saint of Ulidia : died in the year 579. Movilla lies near
Newtownards, and there are still some remains of the old
abbey.
St. Kolaissi [Holasha] or Laser! an of Devenish, son of
Natfree, was a native of Connaught, and was one of the most
distinguished pupils of St. Finnen of Clonard. After leaving
Chap, VI.
RELIGION AND LEAENINa
179
Glonard he founded a monastery on Devenish Island in Lower
Lough Erne, which became very famous. He died in 574 at
the early age of thirty. The little island of Devenish lies two
miles below Enniskillen. It contains a beautiful and perfect
round tower and the ruins of several churches.
St. Fachtna of Rosscarbery, designated Sapiens or the
Wise, was bom in the early half of the sixth century. He was
abbot of Molana or Darinis on the Blackwater near Lismore,
after which he founded a monastery at Ross, now Rosscarbery,
in Cork, where he became a bishop, probably before 570. Ross
became a place of great ecclesiastical and educational emi-
nence ; and it was so famous for the crowds of students and
monks flocking to it, that it was distinguished by the name of
Jios-ailithir, the wood of the pilgrims.
St. Molaissi [lllolasha] or Laserian of Inisliniiirray, the
son of Deglan, was a contemporary of St. Columba and someT
what his senior, and we are told that it was he who enjoined
on him to undertake the conversion of the Picts. In the
early part of the sixth century he founded a monastery on the
island of Inishmurray in Sligo Bay. He is to this day held in
intense veneration by the people of the island ; and the
remains of his primitive monastery still survive in a most in-
teresting state of preservation,'
St. Colamba or C lomkille of lona was born in the year
521 at Gartan in Donegal. He belonged to the northern Hy
Neill (p. 134), his father being grandson of Conall Gulban, son
of Niall of the Nine Hostages ; but he gave up all the worldly
advantages of his high birth, and from an earlyrSge deter-
mined to devote himself to religion. He studied first under
St. Finnen of Movilla, next under St. Finnen of Clonard, by
whom he was ordained ; and lastly under St. Mobfai [Movi] of
Glasnevin. In the year 546 he built the monastery of Derry j
after which, during the next fifteen years, he founded a great
number of churches and monasteries all over the country,
among others those of Kells, Swords, Tory Island, Lam bay
near Dublin, and Durrow in King's County, the Jf^st of which
was his chief establishment in Ireland.
In the year 563 he went with twelve companions to the
little island of lona on the west coast of Scotland,! which had
been granted to him by his relative the king of that part of
' A full description of this interesting island and its n^ins, bv W. F.
Wakftman, will be found in the Kilkenny Arch. Jowni. for 1885-6,
p. 175.
M 2
180 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULEES Part IL
Scotland. Here he settled and founded the monastery which
afterwards became so illustrious. He converted the Picts,
who then inhabited that part of Scotland lying beyond the
Grampian Hills ; and he traversed the Hebrides, preaching to
the people and founding churches wherever he went. After a
life of unceasing labour in the service of religion, he died
kneeling before the altar of his own church of lona, in the
year 597, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and was buried
within the monastery (see pp 19, 20, 121, 152).
St. Fintan or Muana ot Plonenagh was born in Leinster
in %he early part of the sixth century. While still a young
man he founded his monastery at Clonenagh in a fertile spot
surrounded by bog and marsh — about the year 548. Here he
gathered round him a community of monks, who lived under
very severe discipline, and supported themselves by labour.
St. Fintan was held in great esteem by St. Columkille ; and
several distinguished Irish saints were for a time under his
instruction at Clonenagh. He died some time near the end of
the sixth century. Clonenagh lies between Maryborough and
Mountrath, two miles from the latter : it now contains a
single, not very ancient, church ruin ; but the place is known
as the Seven Churches of Clonenagh. St. Fintan is still
profoundly reverenced round all that neighbourhood.
St. Cainnecb, Keany, or Canice, of Aghaboe was a contem-
porary and friend of St. Columba, and was born in Keeixaght
in Derry in 6 1 7. In his youth he spent some years studying in
Scotland, where several churches are still named from him :
lie also studied under St. Finnen at Clonard and under St.
Movi at Glasnevin. He founded many churches in Ireland,
tiie principal one being Aghaboe in Queen's County : in the
monastery here he spent the latter part of his life, and died in
600. The original church of Kilkenny was dedicated to and
named from him (Canice's Church).. In course of time the
bishops of Ossory took up their residence at Aghaboe, though
in later times they have resided at Kilkenny. Aghaboe lies
five miles east of Borris-in-Ossory, and still contains extensive
and interesting abbey and church ruins.
St. Comga 1 of Bangor was born in Dalaradia in 517, of a
distinguished family. "When he had determined to embrace a
religious life, he left his home and entered the monastery of St.
Fintan at Clonenagh, where he studied for several years. Re-
turning to Ulster, he founded his monastery at Bangor in
658. Bangor soon became a great school like Clonard ; its
Chap. VI. RELIGION AND LEARNING - 181
fame spread through all Europe ; and Comgall had 3,000 monks
and students under his instruction and obeying his rule.
Among his pupils was the great St. Columbanus. After
the foundation of Bangor, Comgall visited Scotland, where he
founded a church and did some good missionary service ; and
before his return he spent some time with St. Columkille in
lona. He died in Bangor in 602.
After the suppression of the monasteries the ecclesiastical
buildings of Bangor were destroyed ; and scarcely anything
now remains to remind the visitor of this once celebrated seat
of learning. The Antiphonary or Latin Hymn Book used in the
early ages of Bangor is still preserved in the monastery of
Bobbio ; it was printed in the 18th century by Muratori.
St. Kevin of Olendalough belonged to one of the leading
families of Leinster, where he was bom early in the sixth
century. He was carefully educated by his parents, who were
Christians, and having been ordained priest, he retired to the
lonely valley of Glendalough, where he founded his chief
establishment some time in the first half of the century. He
governed here as abbot till his death, which took place a.d. 618.
After the death of the founder many churches were built in
the valley ; and a city arose there which l)ecame a bishop's
see and remained so till a.d. 1214, when it was annexed to
the see of Dublin. The place now contains a most interesting
group of ecclesiastical ruins, scattered over the lower part of
the valley, including several churches, two round towers, and
some crosses ; the whole group is commonly called the Seven
Churches of Glendalough.
St. Colman of Cioyue, the son of Lenin, was descended from
the kings of Munster, and was born early in the sixth century.
In his youth he was a poet attached to the court of the king
of Cashel : but having resolved to devote his life to religion
he went to the school of St. larlath at Tuam ; and after some
time he founded Cloyne, of which he became the first bishop :
died in 604. Cloyne is still a bishop's see, and contains some
interesting ruins, among them a fine round tower.
St. Mobhi [Movie] or Movi of Glasnevin, also called
Berchan, and often Mobhi Clarinech (flat-face), was a contem-
porary of St. Columba and studied with him under St. Finnen
of Clonard. He founded a monastery and kept a school at
Glasnevin near Dublin. Here he was visited by St. Columba,
■w^ho found 50 students in the school, among them St. Canice,
Bt. Comgall, and St. Kieran of Clonmacnoise. The establish-
182 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Paut It
ment, which consisted of a little church with a number of huts
or cells for residences, was situated on both banks of the river
Tolkanear the present bridge at Glasnevin : but every vestige
has long since disappeared. St. Mobhi died in 545 of the ter-
rible yellow plague (p. 151). The montistery flourished for
more than 300 years afterwards, for the annalists record the
death of an abbot of Glasnevin in 882.
St. Columbanus of Bobbio, one of the most illustrious men
of the age in which he lived, was born in Leinster about the
year 543, and while still a mere boy gave promise of great
abilities. In early life he embraced the monastic state, and
placed himself under the instruction of St. Comgall of Bangor,
with whom he remained many years. He had a great ambi-
tion to carry a knowledge ot the gospel to foreign countries :
and accordingly he went to Bui gundy about the year 590,
with twelve companions, and journeying through France,
preached the gospel with great success to the Gauls, then
sunk in barbarism and vice. Sojourning for some time at;
Luxeuil, at the foot of the Vosges Mountains in France, his
eloquence and holiness of life attracted round him many
disciples — the greater number of them young noblemen — for
whom he founded the two monasteries of Luxeuil and Fon-
taines. I have already spoken of his controversy with the
continental ecclesiastics about the time of celebrating Easter
(p. 1 70). He got into much more serious trouble by boldly
rebuking Theodoric the king of Burgundy for his vices ; for
which he was persecuted and ultimately expelled (in 610),
chiefly through the influence of Theodoric's wicked old grand-
mother Brunehild, who had encouraged the prince in his vices.
After many wanderings, during which he preached the gospel
with undaunted courage, and wrote learned letters on various
religious questions, he settled finally — in 613 — at Bobbio in
Italy, among the Apennines, on a site granted to him by
Agilulf king of the Lombards, by whom he was held in great
honour. He died at Bobbio in 615, where he was buried.
We have still extant a number of his writings — letters,
sermons, poems, »fec. — which show him to have been a good and
holy man, full of genius and deeply versed in many branches of
learning. As he was near fifty years of age when he went to
the Continent, and as he had neither time nor opportunity to
study during his active and stormy life there, he must have
brought his great learning from the old monastery of Bangor.
St. Gall or Qallus of St. ball iu Switzerland, was one of the
Cnxp. VL RELIGION AND LEARNING
183
twelve companions who went with St. Columbanus to the Con-
tinent. At a place called Breganz in Switzerland^ where they
rested for a year in their wanderings, Gallus at the request of
his master broke a number of idols, and understanding the lan-
guage of the people he preached and converted many ; after
which a monastery was erected there. Gallus wa§ ill when
Columbanus left in 612 for Bobbio, so that he was left behind.
Shortly afterwards he built a cell for himself in a solitary spot,
where he died about 645. He was so revered for his holiness
that a church and a monastery were afterwards erected on
the spot, round which grew up a town which still retains the
name of the founder, St. Gall. He is the patron of the place,
and his memory is greatly venerated to this day.
St. Finnbarr or Barra of Cork was a native of Connaught.
Like many other early Irish saints, he visited Scotland, where
he left his name on the island of Barra, of which, as well as of
Dornoch, he is the patron. In Ireland he founded his first
establishment in the wild solitude of Gougane Barra at the
source of the Lee in Cork ; where notwithstanding the re-
moteness of the spot many disciples gathered round him. On
a little island in the lake the remains of the humble cells in
which he and his monks and disciples lived are still to be seen.
After some time he removed to the mouth of the Lee and
founded a monastery on the edge of a marsh near the river, to
which young men flocked in great numbers for instruction.
Around this monastery the city of Cork gradually grew up in
after ages. He died early in the seventh century, and his
name is prejserved in that of the cathedral and parish of St.
Finnbar's in the city of Cork.
St. Aidan or Maidoc of Ferns was bom about the year 555
in the present co. Cavan. While still a mere youth he went
to Wales to St. David, under whom he studied for a long time.
Returning to his native country with a number of Irish
students, he landed in Wexford and founded several churches
in the present counties of Wexford and Waterford. Brandutf
the powerful king of Leinster had an extraordinary regard for
him, and bestowed on him a tract of land call^i Ferna or
Alder-land, now Ferns, where Aidan founded his principal
church At a synod of the chief clerics and laymen of
Leinster, convened by BrandufT, it was ordained that Ferns
should be the chief ecclesiastical seat of Leinster : and Maidoc
was made its first Ard-espog or chief bishop. This became one
of the greatest ecclesiastical centres in Ireland, and a city
184 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE EULEES Paht 1L
rose gradually round it. After a life of active benevolence in
the cause of religion, Aidan died about the year 625. The
Leinster people call him Mogue, which is the Irish pronuncia-
tion of Maidoc.
St. Caithach or Hochuda of Lismore, one of the most
illustrious of the Irish saints, was bom in Kerry about the
middle of the sixth century. He was educated and ordained
py an elder St. Carthach, a bishop : . after which he went to
Bangor, where he spent some time under St. Comgall. Re-
turning to his native county, and soon afterwards proceeding to
Leinster, he founded a monastery at Kahan, in the present
King's County. Here he remained for forty years, becoming
a bishop meantime ; and scholars and disciples flocked to him
from all parts to the number of eight or nine hundred, all of
whom as usual supported themselves by their own labour.
Through some local jealousies he and his monks were ex-
pelled from Kahan in 632 by Blathmac, afterwards king of
Ireland. In his subsequent wanderings he was received
everywhere with great respect ; and at last he settled down at
Lismore. This at once became a bishop's see, and as a school
it soon attained extraordinary celebrity. It was indeed a
university, and was crowded with students not only from Ire-
land, but from Britain and the Continent. Carthach died in
637 and was buried at Lismore.
St. Molaissi [Molash'a] or Laserian of Leighlin was bom in
Ulster in the latter part of the sixth century ; his father was
a nobleman named Cairell, and his mother Gemma was the
daughter of Aidan, one of the Dalriadic kings of Scotland. It
is stated that he lived in Rome for fourteen years, and that
he was ordained by Pope Gregory the Great. After his re-
turn to Ireland he settled in Leighlin in a monastery that
had been founded some time before. Here he attained to
great eminence, so that he had 1,500 monks under his charge.
Having returned from a second visit to Rome, he attended
the meetings held to determine the time for Easter, and
strongly advocated the Roman method of computation, but
was opposed by St. Fintan of Taghmon. This distinguished
man died in 639, and was buried in his own church at
Leighlin. This place, now Oldleighlin, is in co. Carlow.
bt. Fnrsa of Feronne and his brothers Foillan and Ultan.
These three saints, who are remembered in England and
France as well as in Ireland, were sons of Fintan who was
son of Finloga prince of South Monster. Fursa, the eldest, was
Chap. VL EELIGION AND LEAUNING
'i.
185
born some time before 577. Having received a careful reli-
gious education, he established a monastery for himself near
Lough Corrib in Galway ; after which he preached with great
success in different parts of the country. He next repaired to
England — about 637 — accompanied by his two brothers Foillan
and Ultan : he was received with great honour by Sigebert
king of East Anglia, and converted great numbers by his
preaching. Here he founded a monastery, which he left in
charge of his brother Foillan : after which he spent a year with
Ultan, who was then living as a hermit not far from the
monastery. He next 'passed over to France, where he was
kindly received by king Clovis II., and by the mayor of the
palace. The mayor gave him a piece of land at Lagny near
Paris, on which he erected a monastery. He now set out to
visit his brothers in England, but on his way he was taken ill,
and died about the year 650. He was buried with great
solemnity at Peronne, where he is venerated to this day.
Soon after Fursa's death, his brothers went to France ; and
we have already seen (p. 94) how they were engaged by Ger-
trude, daughter of Pepin, to instruct the nuns of Nivelle in
psalmody. Foillan was murdered by some robbers, and his re-
mains were buried at Fosse : and Ultan, having governed the
monastery at Peronne, died about 670. These two brothers
are still venerated at their several places of sepulture.
St. Camin of Iniscaltra was bom a little after the middle
of the sixth century, and was half-brother of Guary the Hos-
pitable, king of Connaught. He founded a church on Inis-
caltra in Lough Derg on the Shannon, where a number of
disciples gathered round him, attracted by the fame of his
learning and piety. He died in the year 653. Iniscaltra or
Holy Island — as it is now more commonly called — lies in the
southern extremity of Lough Derg in a beautiful situation
near the Galway shore. It contains an interesting group of
ruins, including a round tower almost perfect, and several
small churches and oratories.
St. Dympna or Domnat of Gheel in Belgium and of Te-
davnet in Monaghan, daughter of an Irish pagan king, was bom
most probably in or near Clogher in Tyrone. When little
more than a child she secretly became a Christian. When she
came of age her father made an unnatural proposal to marry
her, whereupon she fled in horror from her home to the Conti-
nent with the venerable priest who baptised her and with a
married couple as servants, and took up her residence with
18ft IRELAND UNDER NAllVE RULERS Pxbt Tt
her companions at Gheel in Belgium. Her father followed
^^ler, and after a long search discovered her retreat The old
" priest (Gerebem) was instantly put to death : and the raging
king having in vain sought to bring her to his purpose, ordered
his attendants to behead her ; but as they one and all re-
fused, he became outrageous and beheaded her himself. It is
believed that the holy virgin suffered martyrdom some time in
the seventh century. In course of time Dympna came to be
regarded as the tutelar saint of those a£9icted with insanity ;
and innumerable cases are recorded of insane persons obtain-
ing relief by visiting her shrine. For more than a thousand
years Gheel has been a sanatorium for persons subject to
nervous and mental disorders, where they are treated with great
success. In certain parts of. Ulster this virgin is still held in
veneration : and one parish in Monaghan has taken its name
from her — Tedavnet.
bt. Moling of St. Mullins and of Ferns was a native of Hy
Kinsellagh in Leinster. Having entered on a monastic life,
he founded a monastery about the middle of the seventh century
at a place near the Barrow, which is now called St. Mullins.
He also erected a church in Kildare which still retains the
name Timolin (Moling's house). He ultimately became bishop
of Ferns, and induced the monarch Finaghta to remit the
Bom tribute (p. 153). Died in 697.
Adanman, the biographer of St. Colnmkille, was born
about 624 in the south of Donegal, and came of a princely
family, being eighth in descent from king Niall of the Nine
Hostages. In 679, when he was about 55 years of age, he was
elected abbot of lona — the eighth aft^r the founder Columkille.
His Life of St. Columkille has l)een most learnedly edited by
the Most Rev. Dr. William Reeves. In 697 was held the
meeting of clergy and laymen at Tara, where at the instance
of Adamnan a law was adopted forbidding women to take
part in war : this was known as Cain Adamnain or Adam-
nan's Law. Adamnan is spoken of with great respect by his
contemporaries. He is the patron of Raphoe in Donegal :
and many churches both in Ireland and Scotland are dedi-
cated to him : died in 703. He is popularly known in Ire-
land by the name Eunau, which is the Gaelic pronunciation
of 'Adamnan.'
St. Bnite, or Boetins, or Boece, of Monasterboice, the son
of Bronach, was bom in Keenaght, in the present co. of Louth.
To perfect himself in religious knowledge he went to Italy,
Chap, VI. RELIGION AND LEARNING
187
where he lived for several years in a monastery : and on bis
way home he landed in Scotland, and stayed there for some
time preaching with great success. On returning to Ireland
he founded the establishment which was named from bira
Monaster -Butte or Monasterboice. Boetius was a bishop as
well as abbot of his monastery. The ruins of Monasterboice,
situated five miles from Drogheda, attest the former im-
portance of the place. They consist of two churches, a round
tower, and three stately, elaborately sculptured stone crosses,
forming one of the most impressive groups of ecclesiastical
ruins in Ireland.
Virgil or Virgilins, bishop of Salzburg. Of the early life
of this distinguished man we know nothing further than this :
that he was abbot of Aghaboe and that he went to France
about the year 745. After his arrival, Pepin, mayor of the
palace — afterwards king of France — became greatly attached
to him and kept him in his palace for two years. Virgilius
from this went to Bavaria, where he had some disput^ on
theological questions with the great English missionary St.
Boniface ; but the matter was decided in his favour by Pope
Zachary. In 756 he was appointed bishop of Salzburg.
Virgilius was one of the most advanced scholars of his day :
he taught publicly — and was probably the first to teach- — that
the earth was round, and that people lived at the opposite side
— at the antipodes. A perverted report of his opinions was sent
to the pope, representing that he held the existence of another
world below the earth : but nothing ever came of it ; so that
we must suppose he defended himself successfully. His Irish
name is Fergil ; and he is commonly known as Fergil the
geometer. Died at Salzburg in 785.
St. Mailman of Tallaght founded the monastery of Tal-
laght near Dublin in 769, which he governed as bishop and
abbot till his death in 792. Among his monks was Aengus
the Culdee, the saint next noticed. Tallaght flourished
as a great religious centre for many ages afterwards ; and its
ecclesiastical eminence has not yet wholly departed. The
Dominicans have an establishment there ; and a beautiful
little church has lately been erected on one of the old sites to
the memory of the great Dominican preacher, Father Thomas
Burke.
Aengiu the Culdee was bom about the middle of the eighth
century. While yet a student at the monastery of Clonenagh
in Queen's County, he had great reputation for sanctity ; and
^r.
188 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Part IL
wishing to avoid publicity he went in disguise to the monastery
of Tallaght near Dublin, then governed by St. Mailruan. Ho
was employed to attend the mill and kiln of the monastery,
and in this humble condition he remained unknown for seven
years, till his identity was discovered by accident.
Here he wrote his Feilire or Festilogium, already described
(p. 24). Towards the end of his life he returned to Clonenagh,
where he died about the year 820.
Among the vast number of Irishmen who became
distinguished on the Continent, the following may be
mentioned in addition to those already noticed. St. Fiacre
of Breuil in France, died about 670, who gave name to a
kind of vehicle called in French Sk fiacre^ from the custom,
in after ages, of using it in pilgrimages to his tomb. St.
Fridolin ' the Traveller ' explored the Rhine and founded a
nunnery on the island of Seckingen : died probably in the
beginning of the sixth century. Argobast and Florentius
were successively bishops of Strasburg towards the end of
the seventh century. St. Kilian the great apostle of Fran-
conia converted Gozbert duke of Wurzburg, but suffered
martyrdom in 689 through the revenge of Geilana the
duke's divorced wife. St. Cataldus of Tarentum, of the
latter half of the seventh century, educated in the school of
Lismore, where he was a professor of great repute before
leaving Ireland, went to the Continent and became bishop
of Tarentum, where he is still held in extraordinary
veneration. The two scholars Clement and Albinus, on
landing with some merchants in France, attracted attention
in an extraordinary way. They went through the market
place where people were exposing their goods for sale, and
cried out repeatedly to the crowd : — ' Who want wisdom
(i.e. learning), let them come to us, for we have it to
sell ! ' The great Charlemagne hearing of them ordered
them to his presence, and finding them men of learning,
placed them at the head of two great seminaries. Dun-
gal attracted the patronage of Charlemagne by addressing
a letter to him on solar eclipses. Sedulius and Donatus,
who flourished in Italy early in the ninth century, were
writers of repute in theological subjects. But the most
Cdap. VI. RELIGION AND LEARNING 189
remarkable Irishman of those times — in many respects the
most distinguished scholar of his day in Europe — was John
fccotus Erigena, celebrated for his knowledge of Greek,
and for his theological speculations : he taught philosophy
in Paris, and died about the year 870.
It is to be observed that very few of the natives of
Ireland who distinguished themselves on the Continent are
noticed in Irish records ; the reason of which is, that the
Irish chroniclers took nothing on hearsay, which, was the
only kind of evidence that could reach them from the
Continent.
CHAPTER VII
THE DANISH WARS
[Chief authorities for Chaps. VII., VIII., and IX. : Wars of the Gaels
with the Galls (i.e. of the Irish with the Danes) ; Annals of the
Four Masters and the other Irish annals ; Keating's History of
Ireland ; Haliday's Scand. Kingd. of Dublin ; The Saga or Story of
Burnt Nial, translated by Sir George Webbe Dasent]. j
Towards the close of the eighth century the Danes began
to make their descents on the coasts of Europe. They came
from Norway, Sweden, Jutland, and in general from the
islands and coasts of the Baltic, They deemed piracy the
noblest career that a chief could engage in ; and they sent
forth swarms of daring and desperate marauders, who for
two centuries kept the whole of Western Europe in a state
of continual terror.
Our records make mention of two distinct races, of Galls
or Northmen : the Lochlanns, i.e. Norwegians and Swedes,
who, as they were fair-haired, were called Finn-Galls or
White strangers ; and the Danars or Danes of Denmark,
who were called Duv-Galls, Black strangers, because they
were dark-haired and swarthy. In modem Irish histories
the term ' Danes ' is applied to both indifferently. I
The Finn-Galls or Norwegians were the first to arrive.
They appeared on the Irish coast for the first time in 795,
during the reign of the Irish king Donogh, when they
190
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Part IL
plundered Lambay Island — or Rechru, as it was then called
— near Dublin. St. Columba had long before founded a
church on this island, which no doubt had now weakli
enough to tempt the rapacity of the pirates.
After this period their attacks became frequent. At
tirst they came in small detached parties, and their raids
were chiefly confined to the islands, a great many of which
were then inhabited by colonies of monks (p. 163). But
soon, emboldened by success, they fitted out fresh expe-
ditions on a large scale, and often penetrated far inland,
burning, plundering, and slaying wherever they came.
The first series of invasions terminated in a defeat of the
barbarians in 812 by the prince of Owenagkt or the district
round the Lakes of Killarney. This defeat seems to have
been a very decisive one, for it is recorded in the Annals of
Egiuhard, Charlemagne's tutor, a.d. 812: — 'The fleet of
the Northmen having arrived at Hibernia, the island of
the Scots, after a battle had been fought with the Scots,
and after no small number of the Norsemen had been slain,
they basely took to flight and returned home.' '
Among all this havoc and turmoil we find a few domes-
tic matters of interest to chronicle. King Aed Ordnidhe
[Ordnee], who reigned from 797 to 819, on one occasion,
in 803, made a hostile incursion to Leinster, and forced
Conmach, the primate of Armagh, and all his clergy to
attend him. Having, on the march, arrived at a place called
DuTi-C'uar, now Rathcore in Meath, the archbishop ex-
postulated with him on the impropriety of bringing the
clergy on such expeditions. The king referred the matter
to his tutor and chief adviser Fothad (p. 161), who, after
due deliberation, pronounced judgment exempting the
clergy for ever from att«*nding armies in war. He deli-
vered his decision in the form of a short Canon of three
verses, which is still extant, whence he has ever since been
known as Fothad of the Canon.*
The disaster at Killarney seems to have deterred the
Danes for a while, and there was an interval of quiet of
' Quoted in Miss Stokes's Early Chrixtian Archit. in Ireland, p. 149.
* O'Corry, MS. Mat. JJ63.
Chap, VTI.
THE DANISH WARS
191
ten or eleven years. Soon after the accession of Concovar
or Conor, who became king in 819, they began another
series of inroads, a.d. 823, in which they plundered Cork,^
Cloyne, and Begerin. They destroyed the great monastery
of Bangor in Down, broke the shrine of the patron St.
Comgall, and massacred the bishop and clergy : and in the
same year they ruined and plundered the monastery of
Movilla in the same county. During the next ten years —
from 823 to 832 — we have an almost unbroken tale of
murder and destruction, with an occasional record of
spirited and successful resistance. A great number of
important churches and monasteries of both north and
south were plundered, among them being Taghmon in
Wexford, St. MuUin's in Carlow, Inistioge in Kilkenny,
Killevy near Newry, Swords, Glendalough, Dunleep, Slane,
Duleek, Lismore, and Cloyne and Innishannon in Cork.
At first the Norsemen had come as mere robbers.
They now began to make permanent settlements on several
points of the coast, from which they penetrated inland in
all directions : and wherever there was a religious esta-
blishment likely to aflFord plunder, there they were sure to
appear. They took possession of Limerick and the lower
Shannon, from which they plundered the neighbouring
districts all round, till at last, in 834, Donogh chief of Hy
Conaill Gavra, intercepted and routed them at Shanid, ' and
it is not known how many of them were slain.* About
the middle of the century they established themselves per-
manently in Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford, where they
built fortresses, i
Hitherto there was little combination among the Norse-
men ; but now appeared the most renowned of all their
leaders — Turgesius or Thorgils — who united the whole of
their scattered forces. There is some reason to believe
that this Turgesius was identical with the celebrated chief
Kagnar Lodbrog. He came with a fleet to the north of
Ireland in 832 — the last year but one of the reign of king
Conor — and was immediately acknowledged king of all
the foreigners. Soon afterwards three other fleets arrived,
cue of which, sailing up the Lower Bann, took possession
192 lEELANL UNDER NATIVE RULERS Paut H
of Lough Neagh, another anchored in Dundalk Bay, while
the third occupied Lough Ree on the Shannon.
Turgesius established himself for a time in Armagh,
which he sacked three times in one month ; and with much
skill he posted parties at important points on the coast,
such as Dublin, Limerick, Dundalk and Carlingford. He
usurped the see of Armagh and expelled the bishop For-
annan, who escaped with St. Patrick's shrine to Munster,
where he remained four years. After committing great
ravages in the north, he placed himself at the head of the
fleet in Lough Ree ; and from this central station he com-
manded a large part of Leiuster and Connaught, and plun-
dered those of the ecclesiastical establishments that lay
within reach — Clonmacnoise, Lorrha and Terryglass in
Tipperary, and the churches of Iniscaltra in Lough Derg.
At Clonmacnoise his queen Ota desecrated St. Kieran's
venerated church by seating herself daily on the high
altar, in derision of the sacred place, and there perform-
ing some of her pagan rites and giving audience to her
visitors.
The Irish princes might indeed have expelled the in-
vaders without much difficulty if they had combined : but
that they hardly ever did : on the contrary they fought as
bitterly against each other as against the common foe.
During the reigns of Aed Ordnidhe [Ordnee] — 797 to 819
— and of Conor — 819 to 833 — we do not find it recorded
that either took any steps to oppose the Danes, though
both were engaged in several hostile expeditions against
the provincial kings. The most culpable disturber of do-
mestic peace at this time was Felim Mac Criffan king of
Munster, of the race of the Owenaghts (p. 203), a very
warlike and able, but a very unscrupulous man. He laid
claim to the throne of Ireland, and made several incursions
northwards to enforce his demands, plundering and burn-
ing churches and devastating the country almost as ruth-
lessly as the Danes themselves. But he never once turned
his arms against Turgesius, who was at this very time in
the full swing of his terrible career. It is asserted by
some, on insufficient authority, that this Felim was arch-
Chap. VIL
THE DANISH WARS
193
bishop of Casliel as well as king of Munster. Some, with
better reason, reckon him among the kings of Ireland.
Towards the end of his life he retired to a hermitage, where
he died in penitence in 847.'
After the arrival of the Danes the national character
seems to have deteriorated. Chiefs and people, forced con-
tinually to fight and kill for their very existence came to
love war for its own sake — to regard it as the chief busi-
ness of life. Much of the native gentleness and of the
respect for peaceful avocations disappeared ; and as the
people retaliated cruelty for cruelty on their savage in-
vaders, they learned at last to be cruel and relentless to
each other. They lost in a great measure the old venera-
tion for schools and monasteries : and now for the first
time we are presented with the humiliating spectacle —
frequent enough after this — of churches and inonasteiies
burned and ravaged by native chiefs.
Although the Irish made no combined effort, yet the
local chiefs often successfully intercepted the robbers in
their murderous raids and slaughtered them mercilessly.
In 838 the Kinel Connell defeated them at Assaroe ; in
the same year they were routed by the Dalcassians in
Clare on the shore of Lough Derg; and in Meath the
southern Hy Neill, under their chief O'Colgan, defeated
them and slew their leader Earl Saxulph. At this period
a great fair was held every year at Roscrea, which was
attended by traders from all parts of Ireland. While this
fair was going on in the year 845, a great body of the
Norsemen, having quietly made their preparations before-
hand, marched suddenly on the town, expecting little resis-
tance and plenty of booty. But the people, having some
little notice of their approach, made a hasty preparation,
and meeting them as they entered, killed their leader with
a great number of the rank and file, and put the whole
body to the rout. But these and other victories bore no
proportion to the devastation of the Norsemen, and had
little effect in restraining them. The whole sea continued
' See Most Bev. Dr. Healv's IrelancH'i Arunent Schools and Sehclart,
p. 275.
O
191
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Past TI.
— as the Irish record expi'esses it— to vomit floods of
i'oreignera into Erin ; they still held their grip on the main
strongholds of the coast, from which they swept like a
whirlwind through the country ; and wherever they went
the track they left after them was a belt of desert.
Meantime the tyrant Turgesius continued to tighten
his hold on the country. As well as we can judge of his
proceedings, it would seem that he hoped to make himself
king of Ireland, and that he contemplated the extirpation
of Christianity and the establishment of paganism in its
l)lace. He ruled for thirteen years as undisputed king of
the Danes in Ireland. But so far from building up a king-
dom, the only use he made of his power was to ravage and
destroy : he never seriously attempted to subjugate the
native princes in a body : and his career was at last sud-
denly cut short by the valour of one of the provincial
kings. He was taken prisoner in 845 by Malachi king
of Meath, who caused him to be drowned in Lough Owel
in Westmeath.
This brave prince succeeded to the throne of Ireland in
846 — as Malachi I. — one year after the death of Turgesius.
He followed up his success with great vigour, and the
J)anes now suffered many disastrous defeats, not only by
this king, but by several of the provincial rulers. The
news of the tyrant's death seems to have been the signal
for a general uprising. In 848 Malachi defeated them at
Fore in Westmeath, and slew 700 of them : and in the
same year they were routed at Skee-Nechtain, now Carbury
Hill, at the source of the Boyne, by Olcovar king of
Munster and Lorcan king of Leinster, who slew 1,200 of
their chief men, including Tomrar or Tomar the heir to
the throne of Norway, They were driven from many of
their strongholds, and great numbers were forced to betake
themselves to their ships.
Malachi's successes were so decisive that he sent am-
bassadors to Charles the Bald king of France, to acquaint
him of his victories over the barbarians. This embassy is
recorded by a French chronicler : — ' The Scots breaking in
upon the Northmen, by God's help victorious, drive them
Chap. V/I. TIIE DANISH WARS
19u
r
forth from their borders. Whereupon the king of the Scots
sends, for the sake of peace and friendship, legates to
Charles with gifts, asking for permission to pa88,[through
France] to Rome.'
The foreigners hitherto spoken of were Finn-Grails ;
who were by this time in possession of the most important
seaports and had made Dublin their commercial capital.
But now there arrived — in 852 — a great swarm of Danars
or Black-Galls at Dublin, and they forthwith attacked the
Fiun-Galls, defeated them with great slaughter, ana plun-
dered their fortress. Soon afterwards these two northern
nations, collecting their forces for a determined , struggle,
encountered each other at Carlingford, where after a san-
guinary fight of three days the Finn-Galls were defeated,
and, abandoning their ships, fled inland. Aft€r this the
two nations were sometimes united under one leader, and
eonietimes quarrelled and fought against each other : but
whether united or divided, they never lost an opportunity
of ravaging the country. (See note, page 241.)
Aed or Hugh Finnliath', who succeeded Malachi in 863,
routed the Danes in several battles, after one of which —
on the shore of Lough Foyle (in 866) — twelve score of
their heads were piled in a heap before the king. A little
later — in 869 — he defeated them in a battle at Killineer,
two miles north-west from Drogheda ; where great; numbers
of them fell, among whom was Carlus son of Amlaff I.
king of Dublin. In this battle the Danes were traitorously
aided by Aed's nephew Flann, king of the Keenaght of
Meath, who was killed in the rout after the fight.
Hugh Finnliath was succeeded in 879 by Malachi's
son Flann Sinna, who married Hugh's widow Mailmara,
the daughter of Kenneth Mac Alpine king of Scotlaitd.
For 40 years — from 875 to 915 — a period nearly coincident
with Flann's reign, the Danes sent no new swarms to
Ireland, and the country was comparatively free from their
ravages ; though those already in the country held their
' Sut. Franc. Script, t. ii. p. 524. Quoted by Mies Stokes, Earl^f
Clirittian Archit. in Irel. pp. 149, 160; and by Moore, in- Hiistory of
Ireland, ii. 34. ' .
O 2
196
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Paht H
ground in their fortresses along the coast, such as Dublin,
Waterford, Limerick, and Lough Foyle. But daring
this time there were serious wars among the Irish them-
selves.
In the time of Flann Sinna flourished archbishop
Cormac Mac Oullenan king of Munster. Very soon after
he was crowned king, Munster was invaded and plundered
from Gowran to Limerick — in 906 — by the monarch Flann
and the king of Leinster. Whereupon Cormac, attended
by his chief adviser, Flahertagh, the warlike abbot of
Scattery, followed the invaders northward and defeated the
monarch on the old battle ground of Moylena ; and soon
afterwards he routed another army of Flann's, kindred,
the Hy Neill, in Roscommon (907).
In the next year (908) Flann in conjunction with the
kings of Leinster and Connaught collected a great army
to oppose Cormac, who now, instigated by Flahertagh,
demanded tribute from Leinster on the ground that he was
by right king of Ireland. This Flahertagh was an ob-
stinate and quarrelsome man, and thwarted the efibrts for
peace made by friends on both sides. The good king
Cormac was unwilling to fight : but he allowed himself
to be led by his turbulent counsellor. He had a presenti-
ment that he would be killed ; and he made his will, dis-
tributing his wealth among various abbeys and churches.
The two armies met and fought a terrible battle at Ballagh-
moon, two miles north of Carlow, where the Munstermen
were defeated with a loss of 6,000. Towards the end of the
battle Cormac was accidentally killed by the fall of his horse :
and some common soldiers cut off his head and brought it
to Flann. But king Flann received it with tender respect,
and had the body buried with great honour at Castledermot.
Cormacwas of a gentle disposition and loved study and retire-
ment. He was the most learned Irishman of his time, and was
deeply versed in the history, literature, and antiquities of
his country. The works written by him have already been
mentioned (pp. 4, 31).
About the time (916) of the accession of Niall Glunduflf
(i.e. Niall Black-Knee) son of Aed Finnliath and sue-
Chap. VII. THE DANISH WARS 197
cessor of Flann, Ireland again began to suffer from the
Danish irruptions. The Irish now — probably under the
influence of this brave and spirited king Niall — showed a
disposition to combine against them. The king, in the
year of his accession, marched south at the head of a
detachment of the Hy Neill to aid the Munsterti^en ; and
the combined army fought a battle against the Norsemen in
the south of Tipperary — near Slievenamon — in which after
great loss on both sides, the Danes were routed. But in this
same year they defeated the king of Leinster at a place
called Kenn-Fuat near the coast of Leinster, where fifty
Irish chiefs fell, with 600 of their men.
In the third year of Niall's reign a new fleet arrived in
Dublin Bay; and the Danish army formed an encamp-
ment at Kilmashoge near Rathfarnham. Here they were
attacked by the heroic king Niall, and an obstinate
and bloody battle was fought (in 919) in which the Irish
suffered a disastrous defeat; the king was slain, and with
him fell twelve princes and a great part of the nobles of
the north of Ireland. Donogh the son of Flann Sinna
succeeded Niall, and in the second year of his reign — in
920 — he avenged the battle of Kilmashoge by defeating
and slaughtering the Danes on the plain of Bregia north
of Dublin.
During the reign of this king flourished Murkertagh
of the Leather Cloaks, son of Niall Glunduflf. He was one
of the most valiant princes commemorated in Irish history,
and waged incessant war against the foreigners. His
first recorded exploit was to intercept them on their return
from a plundering raid through Ulster in 921, when he cut
them all oS except a few who escaped in the darkness of
the night Five years later — in 926 — he again routed
them and slew 800 : and they suffered many other defeats
at his hands.
He belonged to the northern Hy Neill, and in accor-
dance with the rule of alternate succession (p. 134) he
would naturally be the next king, as Donogh was of the
Bouthem branch. But in order to silence all opposition
to his accession he made a circuit of Ireland in 941 with a
198
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
PxnT IL
thousand picked men in the depth of winter, when he
knew that his opponents were unprepared to resist. For
the purpose of protecting his men from the wintry weather
he adopted a plan never thought of before : each man was
furnished with a large loose mantle of leather ; and hence this
prince has ever since been known by the name of Murker-
tagh of the Leather Cloaks. In this expedition he met with
no resistance, and was entirely successful. He brought away
the provincial kings or their sons to his palace at Ailech,
where he kept them captive for five months, after which
he sent them to king Donogh as a testimony of loyalty
and to show that he had no wish to claim the throne
during the life of the reigning monarch. This expedition
was celebrated in a poem by Cormacan Eges chief poet of
Ulster, who accompanied the little army. His poem is still
extant, and has been translated and edited by John
O'Donovan. Among the captives was Callaghan king of
Cashel, a great warrior, celebrated in the romantic litera-
ture of that period. But he had none of the noble spirit
of the northern chief, for he fought sometimes against the
Danes and sometimes in alliance with them, according as
he found it answered his own interest.
But Murkertagh was not destined to be king of Ireland.
He was killed in 943 in an obscure skirmish at Ardee by
Blacar the Dane, dying as he had lived, in conflict with
the enemies of his country.
King Congalach who succeeded Donogh in 944 defeated
the Norsemen twice at Dublin : on the first occasion — in
943, the year before his accession — he reduced the city to
ruin, and carried the Danish inhabitants into bondage,
except a few who fled in their ships to the island of Dalkey ;
and on the second (948), he slew 1,600 of them together
with their leader Blacar, the very chief who had killed
Murkertagh five years before. Yet the Irish, though often
capturing Dublin, never attempted to keep it permanently ;
and the Danes always regained or were left in possession
of it. Eight years later (956) he invaded Leinster — why
we are not told. The Leinstermen, when they found
themselves unable to expol him, sent word to Amiaff the
Chap. VII.
THE DANISH WARS
109
Danish king of Dublin, by whom he was caught in an
ambuscade and slain.
During the reign of Donall O'Neill son of Murker-
tagh of the Leather Cloaks (956-980), the country con-
tinued to suffer as much as ever from the Danes, and there
was incessant warfare both with them and among the
native kings. And in many of these wars the chiefs
were in alliance with the barbarians, fighting against their
own countrymen.
Donall was succeeded in 980 by Malachi II., or Malachl
the Great as he is often called, the most distinguished king
who had reigned for many generations, second only to
his great contemporary Brian Boru. The year before his
accession he defeated th&' Danes in a great battle at Tara,
where vast numbers of th6m were slain, including Ranall
son of Amlaff Cuaran the Danish king of Dublin. Follow-
ing up his success he marched straight on Dublin, which
he captured after a siege of three days, took immense
booty, and liberated 2,000 captives, among whom was
Donall Claen king of Leinster. And Malachi now issued
his famous proclamation : ' Everyone of the Gael who is
in the territory of the foreigners in service and bondage,
let him go to his own territory in peace and happiness.'
The Four Masters who record this proclamation, add : —
* This captivity was the Babylonian captivity of Ireland :
it was next to the captivity of hell.' The great Danish
king of Dublin, Amlaff Cuaran, was so heartbroken by this
disaster that he left his kingdom to his son Sittic of the
Silken Beard and went on a pilgrimage to lona, where he
died.
We shall now interrupt the regular course of our
narrative in order to trace the career of the man who was
destined to crush the power of the Danes for ever.
200
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE EULERS
Fabt II
CHAPTER VIII
BRIAN BORU
Brian Boru the son of Kennedy of the Dalgas race (p. 203),
was born in Kii-.cora in 941. In 964 — while he was still a
very young man — his brother Mahon became king of all
Munster. At this time the Danes held the chief fortresses
of the province, including Limerick, Cork, and Waterford,
from which their marauding parties swept continually over
the country, murdering and ravaging wherever they came.
King Mahon and his brother Brian, finding that they were
not strong enough to withstand them openly, and unwil-
ling any longer to endure their tyranny, crossed the Shan-
non with those of their people who abode on the open
plains, and took refuge among the forests and mountain
solitudes of Clare. From these retreats they carried on a
relentless desultory warfare with the foreigners, during
which no quarter was given on either side.
After a time both parties grew tired of these destruc-
tive conflicts, and a truce was agreed on between Mahon
and the Danish leaders. But this was done against the
advice of young Brian, who would have no truce ; ' for
however small the injury he might be able to do the
foreigners, he preferred it to peace.' ^ Accordingly with a
small band of followers, he betook him again to the hills :
and they lived as best they could in huts and caves, en-
during great hardships, watching the Danes day and
night, and falling on them at every opportunity. But the
Danes, collecting an army in South Clare, sent out harass-
ing parties against them day by day. And although Brian
succeeded from time to time in slaying great numbers of
them, yet his own little band gradually dwindled — either
killed in fight or scattered — till at last he was left with
only fifteen companions.
' The passages marked as quotations, withont references, in this
chapter and the next, are taken from The WanoftheOaeU with the GaUt
(of the Irish with the Danes).
Chap. VIIL BRIAN BORU
201
And now the king, Mahon, hearing how matters stood,
and fearing for his brother's safety, visited him in his wild
retreat, and tried to persuade him to abandon farther
resistance as hopeless. But all in vain : the young chief
was not to be moved from his purpose. He reproached
his brother for making peace with the Danes, and said
that neither his father Kennedy nor his grandfather Lorcan
would have done so as long as those cruel foreigners held
possession of the inheritance of the Dalcassians. I
Mahon replied that though that was true, it was now
impossible to meet the Danes, so numerous were they, and
so fierce and brave in battle, armed with weapons of great
excellence, and protected by impenetrable coats of mail.
Then why should he lead forth his Dalcassians, as Brian
himself had done, only to leave them dead on the battle-
field.
Brian answered that it was natural for them ajl to die,
and that death on the battlefield was better than living in
slavery. But one thing there was which was neither
natural nor hereditary to the Dalcassians, namely, to sub-
mit to outrage or insult ; and he went on to say that it
was a shameful thing that the lands which had been bravely
defended from age to age by their forefathers, should now
be abandoned to those grim and rude barbarians. More-
over it was not true, he said, that the Danes were in-
vincible in the field : for he had himself often routed them
in open fight ; and once he had cleared the whole country
side of them, from Lough Derg to the Fergus. But his
brave followers were too few, so that the foreigners had
at last prevailed against them; while Mahon and his
people stood idly by and never stretched forth a hand to
help them.
This and much more was said ; and Mahon was in the
end quite won over. Then summoning a general m«^ing
of the Dalcassians, — in the year 968 — he laid the whole
case before them, and asked them was it to be peace or
war. And to a man they answered war, and demanded to
be led once more against the pirates. Mahon approved
of the decision; and he and Brian, collecting all their
202 lEELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Past U.
forces, formed an encampment at Cashel, from which they
sent expeditions to ravage the Danish settlements all round.
Now when Ivar of Limerick, king of the Munster Danes,
heard of this uprising, he was infuriated to madness ; for
he thought that the province had been thoroughly subdued,
and he had never expected further resistance. And he
made a mighty gathering of all the Danes of Munster and
of the Irish who were in alliance with him, determined to
march into Thomond and exterminate the whole Dalcas-
sian race, root and branch. And he remorselessly put to
death some of the allied Irish chiefs — allied to him more
by force than through friendship — who expressed disap-
proval of this enterprise. But Molloy king of Desmond
and Donovan king of Hy Carbery basely joiaed and en-
couraged him, not so much for love of the Danes as
through jealousy and hatred of the Dalcassians. And
Ivar, bent on vengeance, set out from Limerick with his
whole army for the encampment at Cashel.
Meantime all those Dalcassians who were scattered
here and there through Ireland at the time, had been
flocking towards Cashel at Mahon's urgent summons, even
those serving under O'Neill in Ulster and under king
Malachi in Meath. And almost at the last moment they
were rejoiced to see a small detachment fully armed
marching towards the camp, led by Cahal king of Delvin
More, who had come unsolicited to help them against the
hated Norsemen.
When news of the advance of the Danish army reached
, the Dalcassian chiefs, they instantly broke up camp and
marched west, determined to meet the enemy half-way ;
whom they found encamped amid the woods of Sulcoit
— now called SoUohod — a level district near the present
Limerick junction, twenty miles from Limerick city. We
have few details of the battle of Sulcoit. It began at
sunrise on a summer morning of the year 968, and lasted
till midday, when the foreigners gave way and fled — ' fled
to the hedges and to the valleys and to the solitudes of the
great flower-covered plain.'
And now the long pent-up fury of those they had
Chap. VTIL BITIAN BORTT
208
outraged and oppressed burst on them, and they were pur-
sued in ail directions and ruthlessly killed, fhe main
body tied towards Limerick, and the rout and pursuit
continued through the whole evening and night all the
way into the city : till at morning dawn both the fugitives
and the victors, mixed up in dire confusion, rushed in
through the gates. Nor did this end the slaughter ; for
the Danes were cut down in the streets and houses ; and
finally the Irish plundered and burned the city. Their
turn had now come, and vengeance was dealt out un-
sparingly. All the captives were brought to Singland —
outside the walls — ' and every one of them that was fit for
war was killed, and every one that was fit for a slave
was enslaved.' I
After this the Danes of those parts took refuge in
Scattery Island, which they made their head-quarters
instead of Limerick ; and they placed their women and
children in the other islands of the Shannon. Mahon fol-
lowed up this decisive victory by a series of successful hos-
tilities. He reduced Donovan and Molloy and forced them to
give him hostages for their future good behaviour : he de-
feated the Danes in seven battles, and banished Ivar beyond
the sea to Wales ; and having crushed all opposition, he
ruled for several years, the undisputed sovereign of Munster.
But his uninterrupted success excited the envy and
deepened the hatred of Donovan and Molloy ; and in con-
junction with Ivar the Dane (who had meantime 5 returned
from Wales) they laid a base plot for his destruction,
Molloy had a motive for the course he took beyond mere
personal hatred. There were two great ruling families in
Munster, the Owenaghts or Eugenians, descended from
Owen More (p. 131), and the Dalgas or Dalcassians from
Cormac Cas, both sons of Olioll Olum king of Mui^ister in
the second century. The Eugenians, now represented by
Molloy but in subsequent times by the Mac Carthys, ruled
over Desmond or South Munster, while Thomond or North
Munster was ruled by the Dalcassians, represented by
Mahon and his family, whose descendants after the time of
Brian Boru took the family name of O'Brien. It had been
204 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE ftULEES Patit U.
for many centuries the custom that the kings of the
Eugenian and Dalcassian families should be, alternately,
kings of all Munster. The Dalcassian Mahon king of
Thomond, was now king of Munster, and once he was out
of the way, MoUoys turn would come next. Accordingly,
in 976, Mahon was invited to a friendly conference to
Bruree, the residence of Donovan, who on his arrival seized
him and sent him to be delivered up to Molloy and his
Danish associates. Before proceeding to Bruree, Mahon,
as if fearing treachery, had obtained a guarantee of safety
from the bishop and clergy of Cork ; and now as an addi-
tional safeguard, he wore on his breast a well-known vene-
rated reliquary, the Gospel of St. Finnbarr. The guarantee
was violated by Donovan when he seized the king ; and a
worse violation was to follow.
Molloy, having been apprised of the arrest of Mahon,
sent forward an escort to meet him in the pass of Bama-
derg,' with secret instructions to kill him ; and in order
to lull suspicion, he sent some clergy along with them, who
of course knew nothing of the intended murder. Molloy
himself remained behind, within view of the pass, but a
good way off. When the assassin raised the sword to
strike, Mahon, perceiving his intention, flung the Gospel
from him lest it might be stained with his blood : so that
it lighted on the breast of one of the clergy. And when
Molloy saw in the distance the flash of the naked sword, he
knew the deed was done ; and calling for his horse was
about to mount. ' What wilt thou have me do now ? '
asked the priest who was with him, not knowing what
had taken place. ' Cure yonder man if he should come to
thee,' answered Molloy, mocking ; and mounting his horse
he fled from the place.
The priests who had witnessed the deed fled horror-
stricken and told their tale to the bishop ; and the news of
the murder soon spread abroad. Brian was overwhelmed
' Bamaderg, now called Redch air, a narrow pass near Bally organ on
the borders of the counties of Limerick and Cork. There is a doubt
about the scene of the murder; three places are named in the old
accounts ; but I think Barnaderg is the most likely.
Chap. NTIL BRUN BORU I 205
with grief; and he gave expression to his sorrow in an
elegy, in which he praised the valiant king and denounced
vengeance against his murderers.
The death of Mahon is grievous to me—
The majestic king of Cashel the renowned ;
Alas, alas, that he fell not in battle,
Under cover of his broad shield ;
Alas that in friendship he trusted
To the treacherous word of Donovan.
It was an evil deed for Molloy
To murder the great and majestic king ;
And if my hand retains its power,
He shall not escape my vengeance.
Either I shall fall — fall without dread, without regret —
Or he will meet a sudden death by my hand :
I feel that my heart will burst
If I avenge not our noble king.
But this villainous deed only raised up a still more
formidable antagonist, and swift retribution followed.
Brian now became king of Thomond : and his first care
was to avenge his brother's murder. He began with
Ivar, Surrounding Scattery with a fleet of boats, he forced
a landing and slew Ivar and his Danes, after which he
ravaged all the islands where the rest of the foreigners had
taken refuge after the battle of Sulcoit.
Donovan now becoming alarmed, made alliance with
Harold the son of Ivar, and invited him and his Danes to
Bruree. But, in 977, Brian made a sudden and rapid
inroad into Hy Carbery, Donovan's territory, captured his
fortress at Bruree, and slew Donovan himself, with Harold
and a vast number of their followers, both Danes and Irish.
It was now Molloy 's turn. Brian sent him a formal
challenge to battle, and commanded the envoy to add that
no peace would be accepted and no eric for the murdered
king — nothing but battle or the surrender of Molloy him-
self to atone for his crime. Then waiting for a fortnight
and having received no reply, he marched south (in 978),
and encountered MoUoy's army — composed of Danes and
Irish — in a place called Belach-Lechta in Bamaderg, the
206 lEELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Tav.t IL
very spot where the great crime had been committed two
yeara before. Molloy was defeated with a loss of 1,200
men ; and immediately after the battle he himself was
found hiding in a hut, from which he was brought forth
and killed without mercy by Murrogh the young son of
Brian. Thus were the three murderers dealt with. After
this last battle Brian was acknowledged king of all
Munster.
But now his influence began to be felt beyond his own
province, and other and more powerful antagonists arose
against hira. While he was in the midst of his victorious
career in the south, Melaghlin or Malachi II. ascended the
throne of Ireland, in 980, as already stated (p. 199) ; who
viewed with jealousy the growing power of the southern
king. To assert his own supremacy as Ard-ri, and to
humble Brian, he made an inroad into Thomond in 982,
and uprooted and destroyed the venerable tree of Magh-
Adhair [Moy-Ire] under which the Dalcassian kings had
for ages been inaugurated. This was one of the deadliest
insults that could be offered to a tribe : and it led to a
war of skirmishes and plundering expeditions, which con-
tinued with varying fortunes for several years.
During this period, Malachi, while maintaining the
struggle against his great opponent, and gaining many
victories over other native chiefs, never lost an opportunity of
attacking the Danes. In 996 he swooped down on Dublin
— then and for long after a Danish city — and plundered it.
Among the trophies that he brought away were two heir-
looms greatly prized by the Norsemen, the ring or collar
of the Norwegian prince Tomar — he who had been killed at
Skee-Nechtain 148 years before (p. 194) — and the sword of
Carlus, who fell in the battle of Killineer in 869 (^. 195).
This is the incident referred to by Moore in the words : —
* When Malachi wore the collar of gold which he won from
her proud invader.' On the other hand, through all this
clash of arms, Brian, though sometimes sustaining defeats,
steadily advanced in power. At last the two opponents,
having crushed all other competitors, found themselves so
evenly matched, that they thought it better to come to an
Chat*. niL BRIAN BORU 207
understanding. In 998 they met amicably at a place on the
shore of Lough Ree, and agreed to divide Ireland between
them, Malachi to be king of Leth Conn and Brian of
Leth Mow.
After this they seem to have united cordially against
the common enemy : for we find it stated that in the very
year of the treaty, they forced the Danes to give them
hostages. The Annals add that the Irish were overjoyed
at this — a record with a touch of sadness ; for it proves,
if indeed proof were needed, how little they were accus-
tomed to see union among their princes.
Mailmora king of Leinster was not pleased with the
terms of this peace, which placed him permanently under
the jurisdiction of Brian. In the very next year (999) he
and the Danes of Dublin revolted : whereupon Brian
marched north over the Wicklow highlands intending to
blockade Dublin ; and on his way he encamped in the
valley of Glenmama near Dunlavin, where he was joined
by Malachi. The Danes of Dublin, hearing of the advance
of the Irish army, determined to intercept them half-way :
and marching from the city with Mailmora, came unex-
pectedly on the camp at Glenmama. Brian and Malachi
were well prepared for an attack; and in the terrible
battle that ensued the Danes and Leinstermen were totally
defeated, and 4,000 of them were slain, including Harold
son of Amlaff or Olaf Cuaran, the heir of the Danish
sovereignty in Ireland. After the battle Mailmora was
found hiding in a yew-tree and was taken prisoner by
young Murrogh. Great numbers of the fugitives were
killed or drowned in attempting to recross a ford on the
Liffey now spanned by the ruined bridge of Horsepass ;
and in every other direction where they fled they were
pursued and cut down.^ The victorious army marched
straight on Dublin and took possession of the Danish
fortress. Here they found treasures of immense value ;
and Brian remained in the city upwards of a month, till
' For a description of this battlefield see the Rev. John Shearmar 's
note in the Wars of the GaeUi Kith the OalU, Introd, p. cxliv.; and
It tiaras Battles and Battlefields, by W. St. J. Joyce, p. 6.
208
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Paht XL
he had reduced the greater part of Leinster to subjection.
Then he returned home to Kincora, having enriched his
followers with the spoils. He did not leave a garrison
in Dublin, which in the following year was again taken
possession of by the Danes.
It seems obvious that Brian began about this time to
entertain designs on the monarchy ; and this is the part of
his career that least bears examination. In order to ac-
complish his purpose — to enable him to depose Malachi —
he made alliance with those who had lately been the bitter
enemies both of himself and of his country. He married
Gormlaith mother of the king of the Dublin Danes (Sitric
of the Silken Beard : p. 199) and sister of Mailmora king
of Leinster ; he gave his own daughter in marriage to
Sitric ; and he took Mailmora into favour and friendship.
And for some time after this he had Danes in his army in
all his military expeditions.
Having strengthened himself by these alliances, his
next proceeding was to invade Meath, in 1002 — Malachi's
special territory — with all the forces of Leth Mow, in vio-
lation of the treaty made four years before; and having
marched as far as Tara he sent messengers to Malachi to
demand submission or battle. This is designated by
Tighernach, ' the first treacherous turning of Brian against
Malachi.' Malachi having asked and obtained from him a
month to consider, went north and endeavoured to induce
his relatives the northern Hy Neill to join him in resist-
ing the demand. But they, fearing Brian's great strength,
refused : whereupon he left them indignantly, and riding
into the encampment at Tara with merely a small guard of
honour, without any guarantee or protection, and telling
Brian plainly he would fight if he had been strong enough,
he made his submission. He yielded to the inevitable
with calmness and dignity, and he was treated by Brian
with great respect and consideration. This transaction
was considered as an abdication; and Brian was now
acknowledged king of Ireland. And from that time
(1002) forth Malachi, as king of Meath alone, con-
tinued, except on one memorable occasion, his faithful
Chap. Vin.' BRIAN BORU 209
adherent, nobly suppressing all feeling of personal injury for
the sake of his country.
From Ulster, however, the new king never received more
than a forced and unwilling submission. Several times he
marched northwards, but with no decisive results. It was
in one of these expeditions — in 1004 — that he confirmed
the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Armagh, laid an offering of
twenty ounces of gold on the great altar, and caused the
entry, already noticed (p. 22) to be made in the Book of
Armagh. He now prepared to make a still more formid-
able demonstration, a circuit through those parts of Ireland
whose allegiance he had not yet secured, probably in imi-
tation of the circuit of Murkertagh of the Leather Cloaks
(p. 198). With a great army composed of the men of
Leinster, Munster, and Connaught, and the Danes of
Dublin, he marched, in 1005, over the plains of Ros-
common, crossed the Curlieu Hills into Sligo, then onwards
between Binbulbin and the sea, and passing over the old
ford of Ballyshannon beside the classic fall of Assaroe,
he traversed the great mountain pass of Barnesmore into
Tyrone ; next into Eastern Ulster, where he dismissed the
main body of his troops. Here he rested for some time
with his own Dalcassian followers, and the Ulstermen
supplied him with provisions, for which he paid in royal
style, in gold, silver, horses, and clothing ; after which he
returned leisurely south to his home in Kincora.
And now after forty years of incessant warfare,; finding
himself firmly seated on the throne, he devoted his mind to
works of peace. He rebuilt the churches and monasteries
that had been destroyed by the Danes, and erected bridges,
causeways, and fortresses, all over the country. He founded
and restored schools and colleges, and took measures for
the repression of crime. The bright picture handed down
to us by the annalists, of the peaceful and prosperous state
of Ireland during the twelve years that elapsed from
Brian's accession to the battle of Clontarf, is illustrated by
the well-known legend that a beautiful young lady, richly
dressed, and bearing a ring of priceless value on her wand,
traversed the country alone from Tory in the north to the
r
210 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Part IL
Wave of Cleena in the south (p. 140), without beinf^
molested — a fiction which Moore has embalmed in the
beautiful song ' Rich and rare were the gems she wore.*
This account was written by a partisan, an open and
devoted admirer of the great and powerful king. But
though some allowance must be made for natural and
excusable exaggeration, we have good reason to believe
that the country enjoyed unusual prosperity under Brian's
firm and vigorous administration.
CHAPTER IX
THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF
[This acconnt of the battle of Clontarf is in strict accordance with my
chief autliorities : — The Wars of the Gaels with the Galls : the Irish
Annals : and the story of Burnt Nial, in which there is an inde-
pendent account of ' Brian's battle ' as it is called. The Irish and
Norse accounts agree in the main issue, though differing in details.]
Since the battle of Glenmama the Danes had kept quiet,
partly because the king's strong hand held them down, and
partly because he adopted a policy of conciliation and re-
mained in friendly alliance with them. But it was a forced
submission ; and they only waited for a favourable oppor-
tunity to attempt the overthrow of king Brian and the
restoration of their former freedom of action. The con-
federacy that led to the battle of Clontarf was originated
however, not by the Danes, but by Mailmora king of
Leinster. This great battle, like many another important
event, took its immediate rise from a trifling circum-
stance.
It will be remembered that Brian had admitted Mail-
mora to friendship, and had married his sister Gormlaith,
mother of Sitric the king of the Dublin Danes. This
woman had been first married to Amlaff Cuaran king of
Dublin (p. 199), by whom she had Sitric : then to
Malachi II. king of Ireland, who after some time repu-
diated her ; and lastly to Brian, by whom she became the
mother of Donogh. She is called Kormlada in the Norse
Chvi-. rX. THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF
211
records. The Saga says of her that she was ' the fairest of
all women, and best gifted in everything that was not in
her own power, but it was the talk of men that she did all
things ill over which she had any power.' ' The Irish
annals give no better account of her.
On one occasion Mailmora set out on a visit to Kincora,
bringing as a present for the king, from the forest of Figili
near Monasterevin, three tall pine trees for masts. They
were borne on men's shoulders, and at a narrow pass
through a bog, a dispute arose as to which should take the
lead ; when Mailmora, in order to settle the matter, put
his shoulder under one of the masts, which gave prece-
dence to those that carried it. It happened that he wore
a gold-bordered silken tunic which had been given him by
Brian, and which he had accepted as a tributary prince
'(p. 65) ; and in the exertion one of the silver buttons was
torn off. On his arrival at Kincora he went to his sister
queen Gormlaith and asked her to replace the button.
But she, snatching the tunic from his hand, threw it into
the fire before his face, and bitterly reproached him for
yielding service to Brian, a thing she said that neither his
father nor his grandfather would have done.
Soon after, while still smarting under his sisters
stinging rebuke, he happened to be present looking on at
a game of chess between Murrogh, Brian's eldest son, and
another chief ; and he suggested a move by which Murrogh
lost the game. Irritated at this, Murrogh said to him : —
' You also gave the Danes an advice at the battle of Glen-
mama by which they lost the battle.' This kindled Mail-
mora's anger, and he replied : — ' I will give them advice
next time and they will not be defeated ; ' to which Mur-
rogh bitterly retorted : — ' Then you had better have a
yew-tree ready to receive you ' — alluding to the circum-
stance that Mailmora was found hiding in a yew-tree after
the battle of Glenmama (p. 207). Mailmora, highly in-
censed, retired to his bedchamber, and next morning left
the palace, without permission, and without taking leave
of the king. When this was told to king Brian, he at
» £umt Nial, ii. 323.
r 2
212 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Part IT.
once despatched a messenger after hira with a request to
return : but the angry prince struck the messenger with
the yew horse-rod which he held in his hand, ' and broke
the bones of his head ; ' so that the man had to be carried
back to the palace from the bridge of Killaloe, where this
happened. Some of the household now proposed to pursue
Mailmora and bring him back by force : but the king
would not consent to this, as it would be a breach of hos-
pitality ; and he said he would demand satisfaction at the
threshold of Mailmora's own house.
Mailmora, bent on vengeance, made his way eastwards
to his own kingdom ; and he immediately summoned "nia
nobles : ' and he told them that he had received dishonour,
and that reproachful words were applied to himself and to
all the province.' Hearing this, the chiefs decided to re-
volt against Brian ; and they sent messengers to O'Neill
king of Ulster, to O'Ruarc prince of Brefney, and to the
chief of Carbury in Kildare, all of whom promised their aid.
And now the threatened war-cloud broke over the
country. The confederates began by attacking Malachi's
kingdom of Meath, as he was now one of Brian's adherents.
He defended himself successfully for some time : but he
was at last defeated at Drinan near Swords by Mailmora
and Sitric, with the united armies of Danes and Leinster-
men, leaving 200 of his men, including his own son Flann,
dead on the field. Mailmora and Sitric followed up this
victory by an expedition into the very heart of Meath,
which they plundered as far as the monastery of St. Fechin
at Fore ; and they returned with ' captives and cattle in-
numerable,' some taken in violation of sanctuary from the
very termon of the saint. Malachi, finding himself unable
to defend his kingdom against so many enemies, sent mes-
sengers to Brian to demand the protection to which, as a
tributary king, he was entitled — 'to complain that his
t<»rritory was plundered and his sons killed, and praying
him not to permit tlie Danes, and the Leinstermen, and
the men of Brefney, and those of Carbury, and the Kinel-
Owen, to come all together against him.*
Brian had hitherto remained inactive ; but moved by
Chap. IX. TEE BATTLE OF CLONTARP
213
the representations of the king of Meath, and alarmed at
the menacing movements of the Danes and Leinstermeu,
he now entered into the war. Two distinct expeditions
were organised. The king himself, with one, ravaged
Ossory, while his son Murrogh, at the head of the other,
taking the Leinstermen in the rear, traversed Leinster, de-
vastating and plundering the whole country as far as the
monastery of Glendalough ; and then marching northwards
iaden with spoil, he encamped at Kilniainham near Dub-
lin. Here he was joined by his father in^the beginning
of September (1013), and the combined forces blockaded
Dublin. But the attempt to reduce the city was unsuc-
cessful, for the Danish garrison kept within walls and the
Irish army ran short of provisions : so that t^e king was
forced to raise the siege at Christmas, and return home to
Kincora.
Mailmora and the Danish leaders began actively at the
work of mustering forces for the final struggle, 'They
sent ambassadors everywhere around them to gather troops
and armies unto them to meet Brian in battle.' Gorm-
laith, who was now among her own people — having been
discarded by Brian — was no less active than her rela-
tives : for ' so grim was she against king Brian after their
parting that she would gladly have him dead.' *, She em-
ployed her son, king Sitric,^ to collect forces. He went first
according to her directions to Sigurd earl of the Orkneys,
who consented to join the confederacy on two conditions : —
that in case of success he was to be king of Ireland and
have Gormlaith for his queen. Sitric agreed to both
without hesitation ; and when he returned to Dublin his
mother approved of what he had done.'
She next directed him to go to the Isle of Man, where
there was a fleet of thirty ships under the command of
two Vikings, brothers, named Ospak and Broder ; and she
said to him : — ' Spare nothing to get them into thy quarrel,
» Bttrnt Mai, ii. 323.
» Sitric of the Silken Beard reigned in Dublin from 989 to 1029, wheu
he died on a pilgrimage to Rome; Many of his coins are preserved
(Gilbert, Viceroy t of Ireland, p. 7). ■ Burnt Aial, iL 327.
214 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RUI^RS Pabt It
whatever price they ask.' ' Broder refused to take any
part in the war except on the very conditions already pro-
mised to Sigurd, namely, Ireland for his kingdom and
Gormlaith for his queen ; to which Sitric agreed without
the least scruple, stipulating however that the covenant
should be kept secret, especially from Sigurd. So Broder
promised to be in Dublin on Palm Sunday — the Sunday
before Easter — the day fixed on for the meeting of all the
confederates. The Saga adds that this * Broder had been
ft Christian man and a mass-deacon by consecration, but he
had thrown off his faith and become God's dastard, and now
worshipped heathen fiends : ' and that he had a coat of mail
on which no steel would bite. He was both tall and
strong, and his black locks were so long that he tucked them
under his belt. But his brother Ospak refused to fight
against ' the good king Brian.' He made his escape with
ten ships, leaving Broder twenty ; and arriving at Kincora,
he ' told Brian all that he had learnt, and took baptism,
and gave himself over into the king's hand.' And Broder
sailed for Dublin.^ This account of the proceedings of
Sitric and his mother is wholly taken from the Saga.
The Danish chiefs had strong inducements to take
part in this expedition. They had before their eyes the
successes of Swein and Canute, who at this very time had
> Burnt Mai, ii. 328.
* According to the Saga legend, Broder and his men bad gloomy
forebodings ; and as the awfuJ day approached they were dishear ened
by .weird signs and portents. One night they were awakened by a hor-
rible din ; and when they sprang from their berths, a shower of boiling
blood fell on them so that they had to shelter themselves under their
shields; but many were injured, and one man died out of every ship.
They slept all that day. Next night again a frightful noise made them
all spring to their feet ; and they saw swords leap from the scabbards,
and spears and axes, wielded by invisible hands, flew around their heads
and aimed at their breasts, so that they had much ado to defend them-
selves : and now also many were injured and one man died out of every
ship. They slept that day. The third night they were awakened by a
din worse than before ; and now flocks of ravens with iron claws and
beaks flew at them and attacked them, so that they had to defend
themselves with sword-* and shields. But many were injured and one
died out of every ship {Burnt Aial, ii. 3.S0). So to put the matter be-
yond portent or warning, Broder unmoor^ his ships and set sail for
Ireland.
Ckap, IX. THE BATTLE OF CLONTAIIF i 216
i
made themselves masters of a great part of England ; and
Sigurd and Broder hoped to establish a similar kingdom
for themselves in Ireland.
Returning to the Irish chronicle : there came, among
others, the two earls of all the north of Saxon-land
(England), namely Broder (the same man as the Broder :
of the Saga) and Amlaflf the son of the king of Lochlann, I ,
bringing 2,000 ' Danmarkians.' These two are described
in the old Irish record as ' the chiefs of ships and outlaws
and Danars of all the west of Europe, having no reverence
for God or for man, for church or for sanctuary.' There
came also 1,000 men covered with coats of mail from head
to foot : a very formidable phalanx, seeing that the Irish
fought as usual in tunics. Envoys were despatched in
other directions also: and Norse auxiliaries sailed towards
Dublin from Scotland, from the Isles of Shetland, from the
Hebrides, from France and Germany, and from the shores
of Scandinavia.
While Sitric and the other envoys were thus succese-
fully prosecuting their mission abroad, Mailmora was
equally active at home ; and by the time all the foreign
auxiliaries had joined muster, and Dublin Bay from Edar
to the Liffey was crowded with their black ships, he had
collected the forces of Leinster and arranged them in three
great battalions within and around the walls of Dublin.
The Irish monarch had now no time to lose. He collected
his forces about the 17th of March, and set out towards
Dublin, ' with all that obeyed him of the men of Ireland ' —
ravaging on his way the territories of the Danes and
Leinstermen. Having encamped at Kilmainham, he set
fire to the Danish districts near Dublin, so that the fierce
Norsemen within the city could see Fingall the whole way
irom Dublin to Howth smoking and blazing. And brood-
ing vengeance, they raised their standards and sallied
forth to prepare for battle.
The aged king had resolved to stake all on the coming
battle ; and with the exception of his son Donogh, every
living man of his family stood there to fight by his side —
all his sons and nephews, and his grandson Turlogh, a
216 IRELAND UNDEK NATIVE RULERS Part FL
yoiith of fifteen, the son of Murro^h. A few days before,
lie had sent Donogh with a large body of Daleassians to
devastate Leinster, intending that he should be back in
time for battle.
On the evening of Thursday the 22nd of April, 1014, the
king got word that the Danes were making preparations to
light next day — Good Friday. They had been made aware of
the absence of Donogh. Besides we are told in the Saga
that Broder had consulted a pagan oracle, but found little
comfort in the answer : — that if the battle were fought
before Good Friday the heathen host would be utterly
routed and all its chiefs slain ; but if on Good Friday,
then King Brian would fall, but would win the day.
Friday, then, Broder determined was to be the day of
battle. The good king Brian was very unwilling to fight
on that solemn day ; but he was not able to avoid it.
On the morning of Friday the 23rd of April, the Irish
army began their march from Kilmainham at dawn of day,
in three divisions : — the van consisted of the Daleassians
commanded by Murrogh : next to these came the men of
the rest of Munster under Mothla O'Faelan prince of the
Decies : and the forces of Connaught formed the third
division, under the command of O'Hyne and O'Kelly.
There were two companies brought by the Great Stewards
of Mar and Lennox in Scotland, who were related to the
southern Irish, and now came to aid them in their hour of
need. The men of Meath — the southern Hy Neill
(p. 134) — were there also, under Malachi : the northern
Hy Neill took no part in the battle.
The Danish and Leinster forces also formed three
divisions. In the van were the foreign Danes under the
command of Broder and Sigurd ; behind these were the
Danes of Dublin, commanded by a chief named Davgall ;
and the Leinstermen, led by Mailmora, formed the third
division. Sitric the king of Dublin was not in th«
battle : he remained behind to guard the city. We are
not told the numbers engaged : but there were probably
about 20,000 men each side.
At that time Dublin city, which was held by the Danesi
Chap. TX. THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF | 217
lay altogether south of the Liffey, the narrow Ftreetg
crowding round the Danish fortress which crowned the
liill where now stands Dublin Castle. The only way to
reach the city from the north side was by Duvgall's bridge
— now the bridge at the foot of Church Street, beside the
Four Courts. Northwards the sea flowed in considerably
farther than Amiens Street and Abbey Street. Portion of
the plain north of Dublin — Drumcondra and its neighbour-
liood, and on by Phibsborough towarde the Liffey — was
covered by a piece of natural forest called Tomar's Wood.
The battle ground extended from about the present
Upper Sackville Street to the Tolka and beyond — along
the shore towards Clontarf. The Danes stood with their
backs to the sea; the Irish on the land side facing them.
Malachi and his Meathmen stood at the Irish extreme
left, on the high ground probably somewhere Hear the
present Cabra. The hardest fighting appears to have
taken place round the fishing-weir on the Tolka, at, or
perhaps a little above, the present Ballybough Bridge;
and indeed the battle is called in some old Irish authorities,
' the Battle of the Weir of Clontarf.'
In the march from Kilmainham the veneraWe monarch
rode at the head of the army ; but his sons and friends
prevailed on him, on account of his age — he was now
seventy-three — to leave the chief command to his son
Murrogh. When they had come near the place of con-
flict, the army halted ; and the king, holding aloft a
crucifix in sight of all, rode from rank to rank and
addressed them in a few spirited words. He reminded
them that on that day their good Lord had died for
them ; and he exhorted them to fight bravely for their
religion and their country. Then giving the signal for
battle he withdrew to his tent in the rear.
Little or no tactics appear to have been employed,
except the formation of each army into three divisions. It
was simply a fight of man against man, like most battles
of those days — a series of hand-to-hand encounters ; and .
the commanders fought side by side with their men. No
cavalry were employed.
218
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Pabt n.
On the evening before, a Dane named Piatt, one of the
1 ,000 in armour, ' the bravest knight of the foreigners,
son of the king of Lochlann,' had challenged any man of
the Irish army to single combat ; and he was taken up by
Donall the Great Steward of Mar. Now stepped forth
Piatt on the middle space and called out three times,
'Where is Donall?' 'Here I am, villain!' answered
Donall. And they fought in sight of the two armies till
both fell, with the sword of each through the heart of the
other.
The first divisions to meet were the Dalcassians and
the foreign Danes ; then the men of Connaught and the
Danes of Dublin fell on one another ; and the battle soon
became general. From early morning till sunset they
fought without the least intermission. The thousand
Danes in coats of mail were marked out for special attack ;
and they were all cut to pieces ; for their armour was no
protection against the terrible battle-axes of the Dal-
ctissians.
The Danish fortress of Dublin, perched on its hill
summit, overlooked the field ; and Sitric and those with
him in the city crowded the parapets, straining their eyes
to unravel the details of the terrible conflict. They com-
pared the battle to a party of reapers cutting down corn ;
and once when Sitric thought he observed the Danes
prevailing, he said triumphantly to his wife — king Brian's
daughter (p. 208) — ' Well do the foreigners reap the field :
see how they fling the sheaves to the ground ! ' ' The
result will be seen at the close of the day,' answered she
quietly ; for her heart was with her kindred.
The old chronicle describes Murrogh as dealing fearful
havoc. Three several times he rushed with his household
troops through the thick press of the furious foreigners,
mowing down men to the right and left ; for he wielded a
heavy sword in each hand, and needed no second blow.
At last he came on earl Sigurd whom he found slaughter-
ing the Dalcassians : and here we have an interesting
legendary episode from the Saga. Sigurd had a banner
which was made by his mother with all her dark art of
Ch^p. IX. THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF 219
heathen witchcraft. It was in raven's shape, and when-
ever the wind blew, then it was as though the raven
flapped his wings. It always brought victory to Sigurd,
but whoever bore it was doomed to death : now in
presence of the Christian host it lost the gift of victory but
retained its death-doom for the bearer. And when Mur-
rogh — or Kerthialfad as the Saga calls him ^ — approached,
he broke through the ranks of the Norsemen and slew the
standard-bearer : and he and Sigurd fought a har^ fight.
Another man took up the banner, but he was instantly
slain by Murrogh, and again there was a hard fight
between the two. Sigurd now calls to Thorstein to take
the banner, to whom his comrade Asmund said : — ' Don't
bear the banner, for all who bear it shall get their death.'
Siffurd next calls out to Hrafn the Red : — ' Bear thou
the banner ! ' ' Bear thy own devil thyself ! ' replied
Hrafn. Then the earl himself took the banner and put it
under his cloak,^ and again turned on Murrogh. But
Murrogh struck off his helmet with a blow of the right
hand sword, bursting straps and buckles ; and with the
other felled him to the earth — dead.'
• Kerthialfad is evidently intended for Terdelbhach or Turlogh,
the name of Murrogh's son, given in the Saga by mistake to the father.
* Bvrnt Nial, ii. 3.S6.
' How Sigurd met his death is told in the Irish Chronicle : the Saga
merely says he was pierced through with a spear.
The Irish had their legends of the battle as well as the Norsemen.
The young Dalcassian hero Dunlang O'Hartigan was Murrogh's dearest
comrade, and fought by his side in every field. And the guardian
fairy Eevin of Craglea (p. 140) loved Dunlang, and on the evening
before the battle she came to him and tried to persuade him to stay
away. For she said if he fought next day he was doomed to death :
and she offered to bring him awajy to fairyland — the land of peace and
pleasure. But he told her he was resolved to go to battle, even to
certain death, rather than abandon M urrogh at the hour of danger.
When she found she could not prevail, she gave him a magic cloak, and
told him that so long as he wore it, it would make him invisible and
keep him from danger, hut that if he threw it off he would certainly
be killed. Next day, when the battle was raging all round. Murrogh
heard the voice of Dunlang over all the din, but could not see him ; and
he heard tremendous blows, and saw the Danes falling fast just beside
him. At last taking breath for a moment he cried out, ' That voice is
the voice, and these are surely the blows, of Dunlang O'Hartigan I '
Whereupon Dunlang, thinking it a disgrace to hide himself from his
220
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Part III
Towards evening the Irish made a general and deter-
mined attack ; and the main body of the Danes at last
gave way. ' Then flight broke out throughout all the
host.' * Crowds fled along the level shore between Tomar's
Wood and the sea, vainly hoping to reach either the ships
or Duvgall's Bridge. But Malachi, who had stood by till
this moment, rushed down with his Meathmen and cut off
their retreat. When the battle commenced in. the morn-
ing th^e was high tide ; and now after the long day the
tide was again at flood, so that the ships lay beyond reach
far out from shore.''* The flying multitude were caught
between the Meathmen on the one side and the sea on tho
other, with the vengeful pursuers close behind ; and most
of those who escaped the sword were driven into the sea
and drowned. The greatest slaughter of the Danes took
place during this rout, on the level space now covered
with streets from Ballybough Bridge to the Four Courts.
This fearful onslaught of Malachi utterly crushed the
Danes, and few escaped across Duvgall's Bridge.'
friends in battle, threw off the cloak ; and presently he fell slain at the
feet of Murrogh ( Wars of the Gaels with tlie (rails, p. 173 : and leU
Tighe Chondin, Ossianic Society, p. 98).
• Burnt Aial, ii. 336.
» In the historical tale The Wars of the Oaeh with the Galls, from
which our account is mainly derived, it is stated that on the day of the
battle, the 23rd of April 1014, the tide was at its height at sunrise: —
' Thf-y continued fighting from sunrise till evening. For it was at the
full tide the foreis^ners came out to fight the battle in the morning, and
the tide had come to the same place again at the close of the day
when the foreigners were defeated ' ( Wart of the Gaels with the Galls,
p. 191). When Dr. Todd, who was preparing to edit the work, observed
this statement in the old manuscript, he resolved to test its truth ; and
without stating his object, he put this question to the Rev. Professor
Haughton of Trinity College : — ' What was the time of high water in
Dublin Bay on the 23rd ot April, lOU ? ' Professor Haughton after a la-
borious calculation, found the time of morning high tide to be half-past 5
o'clock, and of evening tide 55 minutes past 5. Thus the old account
was fully corroborated, showing that it must have been oiiginally
written by, or taken down from, an eye-witness of the battle. The
reader will observe the striking similarity of this incident to that of
the solar eclipse of 664 (p. 26). Dr. Haughton's calculation will b«
found in Dr. Todd's Introduction, p. xxvi.
• Keating, as well as the author of the Wars of the GaeU with th4
Cfallt, and other Munster writers, say that Malachi, though marcbiog
Chap. IX. THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF 221
The rout was plainly seen by those on the parapets of
the fortress ; and Sitric's wife, whose turn of triumph had
now come, said to her husband with bitter mockery : — ' It
seems to me that the foreigners are making fast for their
natural inheritance — the sea: they look like a herd of
cows galloping over the plain on a sultry summer day,
driven mad by heat and gadflies : but indeed they do not
look like cows that wait to be milked ! ' Sitric's brutal
answer was a blow on the mouth which broke one of her
te^th.
to Clontarf with Brian, stood by wi^h his Meathmen and took no part
in the battle. But the Four Masters contradict this. They open their
short account of the battle by telling us that Brian and Malachi
marched to Dublin, and that the foreigners of the west of Europe
assembled against them. Then having partly described the battle and
the death of Brian, Murrogh, and many other Irish chiefs, they brins^
in ilalachi for the first time: — 'The [Danish] forces were after mardi
routed ... by Malachi from the Tolka to Dublin' — and then they
go on to nam« the Danish and Leinster chiefs who were slain.
I had always looked on Malachi — and I do so still — as a magnani-
mous prince who sacrificed his personal feelings for love of country ;
and I disbelieved tiie assertions of the Munster writers as calumnies
invented to raise the character of tl)eir own great hero. This was also
the view of Moore, O'Donovan, and Todd. But O'Curry {Man. and
Citgt. i. 124) has called attention to a poem written immediately after
tlie battle by Mac Liag, Brian's chief poet, contained in a portion of the
Book of Hy Many, now in the British Museum, which, to say the least,
throws a grave doubt on the conduct of Malachi, immediately before
and at the battle. The poet is lamenting the death of Brian and
of O'Kelly chief of Hy Many, Malachi's nephew, who fell in the battle.
He expresses his sorrow that O'Kelly, whom he greatly loved, did
not accept the proposal of Malachi before the battle, who ofiFered him
riches in abundance to withdraw from Brian : — ' Malachi of the spears
otfered to the noble son of his sister as much as he had got from the
princely Brian, to refrain from battle, from valour, and the jewels of
Erin from wave to wave, with the command of his hosts.' But O'Kelly
replied that the Dalcassians were dearer to him than all others of the
Giel, and that he would never betray Brian and Murrogh. The poet
mentions nothing of Malachi's conduct at the battle: it would have
been quite out of place to do so, as he was merely bemoaning the fa* e
of his friend O'Kelly ,: and this omission strengthens the beUef in his
truthfulness.
Though the Munster writers strive to blacken Malachi's character
bcyoad his deserts, and tell us dL^tinctly that he took no part at all in
the battle, I fear we cannot altogether set aside their testimony.
Carefully weighing all the evidence, the conclusion I come to— very
rclactantly — is this: tlmt Malachi came to Clontarf, as the Munster
I
222
lEELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Part II.
We have related so far the disasters of the Danes But
the Irish had their disasters also ; and dearly did they pay
for their great victory.
After the rout of the Danish main body, and when the
fortune of the day was decided, scattered parties of Danes,
scorning or unable to fly, continued to fight for life with
despairing fury at various points over the plain. On one
of those groups came Murrogh, still fighting, but so fatigued
that he could scarce lift his hands. Anrad the leader of the
band, ' the head of valour and bravery of Lochlann,' dashed
at him furiously. But Murrogh, who had dropped his
sword, closing on him, grasped him in his arms, and by
main strength pulled his armour over his head : then get-
ting him under, he seized the Norseman's sword and thrust
it three times through his body to the very ground.
Anrad, writhing in the death agony, plunged his dagger
into the prince's side, inflicting a mortal wound. But the
Irish hero had still strength enough left to behead the
Dane : and he lived till next morning, when he received
the solemn rites of the church.
The heroic boy Turlogh fought valiantly during the
day in his father's division, side by side with his elder re-
latives. After the battle — late in the evening — he was
found drowned at the fishiug weir of the Tolka, with his
hands entangled in the long hair of a Dane, whom he
had pursued into the tide at the time of the great flight.
But the crowning tragedy of the bloody day of Clontarf
was yet to come. The aged king remained in his tent
writers say, intending not to fight: that be stood by all day; but that
when towards evening he saw the Danes flying in confusion towards
Dublin, bis better nature and his old hatred of the Danes overcame the
memory of his deposition, and he fell on them and slaughtered them.
This is quite consistent with the Four Masters' narrative, especially in
view of the word ' afterwards.' Brian himself, as we have seen, was
not free from stain ; and if Malachi on this single occasion weakly
yielded for a time to his sense of wrong, we must not Jet this outweigli
the heroic deeds of a long life ; and we must remember it was his final
onslaught that rendered the issue of the day final and decisive.
Though no one would think of doubting O'Curry, yet I never felt
quite satisfied about this poem till I had gone to the British Museum
and copied it with my own hand : and the above account is traublated
from it direct, not taken secondhand from O'Cuiry.
^
Cjup. rX. THE BATTLE OF CLONTAEP 223
engaged in earnest prayer, while he listened to the din of
batt!*^. He had a single attendant, Laiten, who stood at
the door to view the field ; and close round the tent stood
a guard. Once the king asked how the battle fared. ' The
battalions,' replied Laiten, ' are mixed together in deadly
struggle ; and I hear their blows as if a vast multitude
were hewing down Tomar s Wood with heavy axes. I see
Murrogh's banner standing aloft, with the banners of the
Dalgas around it.'
Then the king's cushion was adjusted and he clasped
his hands in prayer.
Again, after a time, he made anxious inquiry. 'They
are now mingled so that no living man could distinguish
them ; and they are all covered with blood and dust,
BO that a father could scarce know his own son. Many
have fallen, but Murrogh's banner still stands, moving
through the battalions.'
* That is well,' replied the king : * as long as the men of
Erin see that standard they will fight with courage and
valour.'
The same question a third time towards evening. * It
is now as if Toraar's Wood were on fire, and the flames burn-
ing and the multitudes hewing down the underwood, leaving
the tall trees standing. For the ranks are thinned, and
only a few great heroes are left to maintain the fight. The
foreigners are now defeated ; but the standard of Murrogh
has fallen.'
' Evil are those tidings,' said the old warrior-king,
losing heart 'at last : ' if Murrogh lies fallen the valour of
the men of Erin is fled, and they shall never again look on
a champion like him.' And again he knelt and" prayed.
And now came the great rout ; and the guards, think-
ing all danger past, eagerly joined in the pursuit, so that
the king and his attendant were left alone. Then Laiten
becoming alarmed, said : — ' Many flying parties of foreigners
are around us ; let us hasten to the camp where we shall
be in safety.'
But the king replied : — ' Retreat becomes us not ; and
I know that I shall not leave this place alive ; for Eevin
2*24 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Part n.
of Craglea, the guardian spirit of my race (p. 140), camo
to me last night and told me I should be slain this day.
And what avails me — now in my old age — to survive
Murrogh and the other chan^pions of the Dalgas?'
He then spoke his last will to the attendant, giving his
property to various religious establishments, and directing
as a farewell mark of devotion to the church, that his body
should be buried at Armagh : and after this he resumed his
prayers.
It happened that Broder, who had fled from the battle-
field on finding that his coat of mail had lost its virtue, came
with some followers at this very time towards the tent.
* 1 see some people approaching,' said Laiten. ' What
manner of people are they ? ' asked the king. ' Blue and
naked people,' replied the attendant. 'They are Danes in
armour ! ' exclaimed the king, and instantly rising from
his cushion he drew his sword. ' Broder at that instant
rushed on him with a double-edged battle-axe, but was
met by a blow of the heavy sword that cut off both legs,
one from the knee and the other from the ankle. But the
furious Viking, even while falling, cleft the king's head
with the axe.'
After a little time the guards, as if struck by a sudden
sense of danger, returned in haste : but too late. They
foand the king dead, and his slayer stretched by his side
dying. •
. The battle of Clontarf was celebrated all over Europe,
and exaggerated accounts of its horrors reached some of
the continental chroniclers. Ademar, the contemporary
French annalist of Angouleme, records that it lasted for
three days, that all the Norsemen were killed, and that
tl>eir women threw themselves in crowds into the sea;
but there is no foundation for this. The Nial Saga relates
the whole story of the battle as a great defeat, and tells of
visions and portents seen by the Scandinavian people in
their homes in the north, on that fatal Good Friday. In
Caithness one of the Norse settlers saw twelve maidens
* The Saga's account of the maimer of Brian's death is somewhat
different.
Chap. IX. THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF 225
riding into a bovver ; and when he looked in through a
chink he saw them weaving in a loom : ' Men's heads were
the weights, men's entrails the warp and weft, a sword was
the shuttle, and the reels were arrows; ' and while they wove
they snng a dreadful song. Then they arose and tore the
web asunder, each keeping her own part, and galloped, six
north and six south. These were Odin's Valkyrias or
* corse-choosers ' who marked out those who were to fall on
the battle-field.* In Iceland blood burst from a priest's
vestments while he was celebrating Mass. A Norse earl
in one of the Isles dreamed that a man who had come
from Ireland sang to him : —
' I can tell of all their struggle,
Sigurd fell in flight of spears,
Brian fell but kept his kingdom,
Ere he lost one drop of blood.' ^
The Irish too had their prodigies : the old poet Mac Cosse
tells us that at the hour of Brian's death a well of blood
sprang from the earth beside the penitential bed of
St. Fechin at Cong, far away on the western border of
Erin.3
A week after the battle, Hrafn the Red, who had
escaped, brought tidings to the North ; and earl Flosi asks
him : — ' What hast thou to tell me of my men ? ' * They
all fell there,' replied Hrafn.*
As to the numbers slain, the records differ greatly.
According to the annals of Ulster 7,000 fell on the Danish
side and 4,000 on the Irish, which is probably near the
truth. Almost all the leaders on both sides were slain,
and among them Mailmora, the direct inciter of the
battle.
To this day the whole neighbourhood of Clontarf teems
with living memorials of the battle. You will see
' Danesfield,' ' Conquer Hill,' ♦ Brian Bom's Lodge,' and
' Bvmt Mai, ii. 336. Dasent has given a translation of the song;
and Gray has paraphrased it as an English ode — 'The Fatal Sisters' —
as weird aid gloomy as the original.
* Burnt Mai, ii. 342. • O'Curry, Mann, and Oust. 1. 119.
* Burnt Mai, ii, 343.
Q
226 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Pahf IL
many other such names. A fine spring well has been
known from time immemorial as Brian Boru's Well ; but
it is now turned into a modern drinking fountain, still
known however by the old name. According to some
accounts the Dalcassian heroes retired to this well when
thirsty and weary at intervals during the day to drink :
but this is all modern : there is nothing of it in the old
accounts. There are still many mounds where the dead
were buried ; and one very large one is called ' Bri/in
Boru's Mound.'
The battle of Clontarf was the last great struggle be-
tween Christianity and heathenism.
The body of king Brian and that of his son Murrogh
were conveyed with great solemnity to Armagh, where they
were interred in the cathedral, the archbishop and clergy
celebrating the obsequies for twelve days.
After the battle the Irish collected their broken bat-
talions and encamped at Kilmainham. On Easter Sunday
Donogh entered the camp to find that all was over. He
took command, but did not attempt to capture Dublin from
Sitric : what his father, four months before, had failed in,
he could hardly hope to do in the weakened state of his
army. Afber waiting a few days to rest and bury their
dead, he and his Dalcassian clans set out on their home-
ward march, bringing the wounded on litters. Arriving
at Athy they halted ; and the men both whole and wounded
refreshed themselves in the cool waters of the Barrow.
Here occurred a humiliating incident. Mac Gilla
Patrick, prince of Ossory, an old enemy of the Dalcassians,
basely taking advantage of their enfeebled state, came
forth with his army to attack them. Donogh, making
hasty preparations to meet him, gave orders that the
wounded and sick men should be placed in the rear with
one third of the army for a guard. But those brave men,
emaciated and feeble as they were, insisted on taking part
in the fight. ' Let stakes from the neighbouring wood,'
said they, ' be fixed in the ground, and let us be tied to
them for support, with our swords in our hands, HaTing
Cr:AP. IX. THE BATTLE OF CLONTAEF 227
our wounds bound up with moss, and lettwounwoundedmen
Staud by each of us, on the right and on the left. Thus
will we fight ; and our companions will fight the better for
seeing us.' It was done so. And when the Ossorians saw
the Dalcassians marshalled in this manner to receive them,
they were seized with fear and pity, and refused to attack
such resolute and desperate men ; so the Dalcassians were
at last permitted to depart without fighting. Nevertheless
on their southward march Mac Gilla Patrick hung on theii*
rear and killed great numbers of them.
After the battle of Clontarf and the death of Brian,
Malachi, by general consent and without any formality,
took possession of the throne. He reigned for eight years
after and gave evidence of his old vigour by crushing some
risings of the Danes — feeble expiring imitations of their
ancient ferocious raids — and by gaining several victories
over the Leinstermen. Feeling his end approaching, he
retired to Cro-Insha, a small island in Lough Ennel, to
devote his last days to penitence and prayer. Here in
presence of the archbishop of Armagh and other eminent
ecclesiastics, he died a most edifying death (1022), in the
seventy-third year of his age, leaving behind him a noble
record of self-denial, public spirit, and kingly dignity.
The character and career of Brian Born have been very
differently estimated by different writers. His deposition
of Malachi is called a rebellion, no doubt with justice,
by the great annalist Tighernach, who flourished within
half a century of his time. His accession was certainly a
revolution. During the preceding 500 years, from Lewy
(p. 150) to Malachi, there had bjen forty reigns, including
five by two kings conjointly ; forty-five kings altogether ;
and all without exception belonged to the princely Hy
Neill family. Now for the first time the old succession was
broken. To this interruption some modern writers have
attributed, but on insufficient grounds, most of the subse-
quent disasters of the country ; and they represent Brian
as usurping the throne in pursuance of mere personal
ambition. On the other hand the southern chroniclers
«2
228 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULER& Part H.
have unduly exalted the chnracter of their hero, and to
this end thev have done their best to blacken the fame i)f
Malachi. No doubt the truth lies between. We must
remember that Brian probably saved Ireland from com-
plete subjugation by the Danes, and that he succeeded —
or almost succeeded — in combining the whole country in
one solid monarchy, what no king before him was able to
do. His magnificent conception was to establish a dynasty
which should rule Ireland for evermore as one strong un-
divided kingdom ; and he failed because no representative
member of his family as able and as stronghanded as him-
self survived Clontarf. If he gained power by means not
always above reproach, he employed it to crush the enemies
of his country, and to advance the interests of religion,
learning, and good government.
CHAPTER X
PREPARING THE WAY FOR THE INVADER
[Chief authorities: The Irish Annals ;' Eeating's Hist, of Irel.; Cam-
brensis Eversus ; O'Curr^'s MS. Mat., and Mann, and Cast.]
During the century and a half from the death of Malachi II.
to the Anglo-Norman invasion, Ireland had no universally
acknowledged over-king. To every one there was opposi-
tion from some influential quarter or another ; which the
annalists indicate by the epithet Ri co fressabra, ' king
with opposition,' commonly applied to the kings who during
this time aspired to the sovereignty. During the whole of
this period Ireland was in a state of great confusion. The
rival claimants waged incessant war with one another ; and
the annals present a pitiful picture of strife and bloodshed
all over the country. What the Saxon Heptarchy was
before the time of Egbert, such was Ireland during this
dark and troubled interval ; and as a natural consequence,
it became an easy prey to the invaders when they came.
The annalists tell us that for some years after the death
of Malachi (died 1022) there was an interregnum; and
Chap. X. PKEPARING THE WAY FOR THE INVADER 229
that the utiairs of the kingdom were admiuibteied by two
learned men, Cuan O'Lochan, a great antiquary and poet,
and ' Corcran the cleric,' a very holy ecclesiastic who lived
chiefly in Lismore, What the functions of these two men
were it is not easy to understand. Probably they were in
some respects like the presidents of a republic ; for we
read in the annals of Clonmaenoise that 'the land was
governed like a free state and not like a monarchy by
them.'
Not long after the death of Malachi, Donogh king of
Munster, son of Brian Boru, finding himself secure on the
})rovincial throne, took steps to claim the sovereignty in
succession to his father. He forced Ossory, Leinster, and
Meath to give him hostages in token of submission ; and
later on he obtained the adhesion of Connaught. By some
he is ranked among the kings of Ireland ; but he never
made any attempt on Ulster. Donogh had an elder
brother Teige, who in 1023 — the year alter the death of
Malachi — was treacherously killed by the people of Ely,
who had been instigated to the foul deed by Donogh him-
belf, in order that he might secure beyond dispute the
crown of Munster. This Teige left a son, Turlogh O'Brien,
who was fostered by Dermot Mac Mailnaaio king of
]jeinster ; and these two — foster father and foster son —
always lived on terms of friendship and affection.
When Turlogh grew up he claimed the throne of
Munster as his right ; and he and his foster father waged
ii^cessaut war on Donogh, knowing that the murder of
Turlogh 's father was due to him. Donogh, though a
powerful prince, was not able to stand against this combi-
nation, and gradually lost ground. They defeated him in
several battles, and finally succeeded in deposing him ; on
which Turlogh became king of Munster; and Donogh,
now in his old age, took a pilgrim's staff and fared to
Rome, where he died penitently in 1064.
At the time of Donogh 's deposition Dermot of Leinster
was the most powerful of the provincial kings, so that he
also is reckoned among the kings of Ireland. The most
persistent opponent of his claims to the monarchy was
200 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Paut H.
Conor O'Melaghlin prince of Meath, the son of Malachi.
In the long contention between these two Dermot generally
tad the upper hand ; but he was at last defeated and slain
by Conor in a battle fought in 1072 at Ova or Navan in
Meath.
Turlogh O'Brien was now free ; for during his foster
father's lifetime he had abstained from making any claim
outside Munster. Without delav he marched north from
Kincora and forced the kings and chiefs of all the other
provinces and minor states, except Ulster, to acknow-
ledge his authority. But when he attempted to reduce
the Ulstermen they defeated him, in 1075, almost on the
threshold of their province — near Ardee — so that he had to
make a hasty retreat south.
But Turlogh had in him some of the spirit of hia
grandfather, and was not easily turned aside from his
purpose. He now made deliberate preparations for the
complete subjugation of the other provinces, hoping to
reduce Ulster in due course. First marching into Con-
naught, in 1079 he expelled Rory O'Conor. Next year he
proceeded to Leinster and forced Meath and Dublin to
submit ; and having banished the Danish king Godfred,
he made his own son Murkertagh or Murtogh king of
Dublin. And some say that he ultimately forced Ulster
to submit and pay him tribute.
Turlogh is on all hands acknowledged to have been
king of Ireland with opposition. What his contemporaries
outside of Ireland thought of him may be gathered from a
letter written to him by Lanfranc archbishop of Canter-
bury, in which he is styled ' Tirdelvac magnificent king of
Hibernia,' and the archbishop says, the Almighty showed
great mercy towards the Irish people ' when he gave your
excellency supreme power over that land.' In 1086 this
king died peacefully in Kincora after a reign of twenty-
three years over Munster, and in the fourteenth year of hia
reign as king of Ireland.
Turlogh's son Murkertagh O'Brien succeeded as king
of Munster. In the assertion of his claim to the throne of
Ireland he invaded Leinster, in the year after his acces-
Chat. X. PEEPAEING THE WAY FOR THE INVADER 231
sion, and defeated the Leinsterrten in battle under Donall
the son of Mac Mailnamo. But he- had a formidable com-
petitor for the sovereignty — Donall O'Loghlan (or Mac
Loughlin) king of Ailech (i.e. king of Ulster), who be-
longed to the northern Hy Neill and who now revived the
clainjs of that princely family. These two men were dis-
tinguished for their abilities ; and for more than a quarter
of a century they contended with varying fortunes for the
throne of Ireland.
Donall began the struggle in 1088 by marching south-
wards ; and having forced O'Conor king of Connaught to
submit and join him, they both plundered the great Munster
plain extending through Tipperary and Limerick, burned
Limerick city, and demolished the royal residence of Kin-
cora. Donall then returned in triumph to Ulster, bringing
captive many of the Munster chiefs, who were subsequently
ransomed by Murkertagh.
In the very next year Murkertagh retaliated in an
expedition up the Shannon, plundering remorselessly every-
thing on his route, both church and homestead. But his
boats were blocked in the river and his army was repulsed
by O'Melaghlin king of Meath, so that he had to abandon
his fleet and return to Munster.
The war went on, on all sides, till at length a meeting
was held in 1090 on the shore of Lough Neagh by the two
principal belligerents — O'Brien and O'Loughlin — with the
kings of Meath and Connaught. Here O'Loughlin was
acknowledged supreme monarch of the other three kings,
and received hostages from them ; after which they parted
in peace. But the peace was of no long duration; for
Murkertagh was determined to be king of all Ireland : and
even during the short interval, the fierce broils of the other
rulers continued to rage without the least intermission.
Murkertagh made two attempts in the year 1100 to
reduce the Ulstermen, one by land and the other by sea
with a Danish fleet ; but on both occasions he was defeated
and driven back by Donall. The next year (1101) he was
more successful. With an overwhelming army drawn from
the four provinces — Munster, Leinster, Meath, and Con-
232 ICELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Pat.t IL
luiught — he marched thrdugh Connanght, crossed the ford
ot" Assaroe, and traversing Innishowen, he destroyed Ailech
or G x'eenan-Elly, the royal palace of the northern Hy
Neill — Donall's residence — in revenge for the destruction
ot* Kincora thirteen years before. And to make the demo-
lition more complete and humiliating, he ordered his
}<oldiers to bring away the very stones of the building, a
stone in every provision sack, all the way back to Kin-
cora. Leaving Innishowen he proceeded to Ulidia, where ,
they gave him hostages. He made the whole circuit of
Ireland in six weeks without meeting any opposition, and
brought hostages from every territory to his home in
Kincora.
Some time after this he again marched into Ulster and
encamped in Moy-Cova in the west of the present county
of Down ; but while he himself was temporarily absent,
his main army was attacked (1103) by Donall O'Loughlin
and routed with prodigious slaughter. In addition to the
expeditions related above, Murkertagh marched on several
other occasions into the heart of Ulster ; and five diflferent
times — from 1097 to 1113 — when the hostile armies had
confronted each other and were about to engage, the arch-
bishop of Armagh interposed and persuaded the kings to
make a truce and separate without bloodshed.
But some other matters besides war worthy of record
occurred during this reign. Murkertagh found time to
attend to the civil and religious affairs of the country ; and
he was a munificent patron of the church. Immediately
before setting out on his triumphant circuit in 1101, he
granted to the church the city of Cashel, one of the old
seats of his kingly family, and changed his own chief resi-
dence to Limerick, which after that time continued to be
the seat of the kings of Thoraond. Hanmer relates that
in the year 1098 Murkertagh gave William Rufus a number
of great oak-trees from the wood of Ostmanstown or Ox-
manstown on the north side of Dublin, wherewith was
constructed the roof of Westminster Hall.*
Murkertagh, like his father, was thought highly of
> Hanmer's Chronicle, ed. 1809, p. 194.
Chap. X. PREPARING THE WAY FOR TIT£ INVADER 233
abroad. He was on terms of friendship with Henry I. of
England ; one of his daughters was married to Sigurd son
of Magnus, as related below, and another to Arnulf de
Montgomery, brother of the earl of Shrewsbury. Anselm
archbishop of Canterbury wrote him a letter about certain
abuses in the Irish church in which he is styled the
' glorious king of Ireland.'
Th(^ugh the Danes in Ireland were now quiet enough,
yet the proceedings of Magnus the powerful king of Nor-
way show that the foreign Danes had not quite relinquished
the idea of conquering Ireland. In the year 1102 he made
a hostile descent on Dublin, but was confronted by Mur-
kertagh with a large army. Deterred by this reception, he
did not fight ; a peace of one year was made ; and Mur-
kertagh gave his daughter in marriage to Magnus's son
Sigurd, the newly appointed king of the Hebrides. At
the end of the year Magnus renewed his attempt however,
by landing on the coast of Ulster ; but he was caught in
an ambuscade, and he and his whole party were slain ;
whereupon those that remained on board sailed away home
with the fleet. The body of the Danish king was treated
with great respect by the Irish, and was buried in the
cathedral of Downpatrick.^ A circumstance that, on the
other hand, indicates the increasing goodwill between the
Irish and Danes was the application of the Danes of Man
and the Hebrides to Murkertagh (or more probably to his
father Turlogh) for a member of his family to be king over
them during the minority of their own king. He sent
them his nephew Donall O'Brien, who however turned out
an intolerable tyrant, and was expelled by his subjects at
the end of three years. Another Donall OBrien, his cousin,
ruled the Danes of Dublin about the same time.
The long contest between these two powerful rivals —
O'Brien and O'Loughlin — remained undecided to the last,
for neither succeeded in completely and finally crushing
the other ; and they are both spoken of as kings of Ireland,
reigning with equal authority, though O'Brien was certainly
the more distinguished king. Both ended their days in
• Four Masten, A.D. 1102 and 1103 ; CamJir. Evers. li. 49, 61.
234 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS TsvrU.
retirement and penitence. Murkertagh struck down with
a wasting sickness retired to the monastery of Lismore in
1114, where having entered the ecclesiastical state, he died
in 1 1 1 9. With him passed away for ever the predominance
of the O'Brien family. Donall retired to the monastery of
Derrv, where he died in 1121.
After the death of Donall there was aji interregnum
of about fifteen years with no over-king. For the past
century the struggle for supremacy had been chiefly be-
tween the O'Briens of Munster and the O'Logblins or
Mac Loghlins of Ulster — a branch of the Hy Neill. For
the next half-century it was between the O'Neills and the
O'Conors of Connaught, ending in the triumph of the
O'Conors, till the native monarchy was overthrown for ever
by the Anglo-Normans.
For some time past the kings of Connaught had been
gradually gaining power and influence. Turlogh O'Conor,
who at this time ruled over the province — the king who
caused the Cross of Cong to be made in 1123 (p. 107) —
believing himself strong enough to win the crown of
Ireland, determined to reduce the other provinces. He
began with Munster, which he considered the most powerful.
Since the time of Brian Boru the alternate arrangement
described at p. 204 had been set aside, and all the kings
were of that great monarch's family. O'Conor, now that
the formidable old king Murkertagh O'Brien was off the
stage, marching to Glanmire near Cork in 1118, enforced
a new arrangement, making Mac Carthy king of Desmond
and one of the O'Briens king of Thomond — thus, so far as
lay in his power, dividing and weakening the province.
He followed up this exploit by marching in the same
year to Dublin, from which he carried off" captive the
Dublin king, son of O'Melaghlin prince of Meath. The
palace of Kincora had been rebuilt by Murkertagh O'Brien in
1096, a few years after its destruction by Donall O'Loughlin
(p. 231). O'Conor now turning south and west, again tore
it down and hurled all, both wood and stone, into the
Shannon.
Notwithstanding the subdivision of Munster, the
Chnp. X. PnEPARING THE WAY FOR THE INVADER 235
O'Briens proved formidable adversaries, and still retained
it least nominal sway over the whole province. One of
them — Conor of the Fortress — whom the Four Masters
style ' supreme king of the two provinces of Munster,'
not only disputed O'Ccnor's supremacy, but led several
successful expeditions into the heart of Connaught. And
thus the wretched country continued to be torn by feuds
and broils : so that, as the Four Masters express it, Ire-
land was ' a trembling sod/ The good and saintly Celsus,
archbishop of Armagh, undertook several journeys through
the country endeavouring to make peace, and on one occa-
sion— in 112(5 — he remained absent from his see for thir-
teen months. During the last of these journeys of mercy
he died in 1129 at the monastery of Ardpatrick in
Limerick, and was buried with great honour and solemnity
at Lismore.
Through all this turmoil, Turlogh O'Conor steadily
advanced in power, though the O'Briens still valiantly
maintained the struggle against him. Turlogh O'Brien
who succeeded Conor of the Fortress in 1142 had an army
of 9,000 trained men with which he overawed all Munster,
made several incursions into Connaught and Leinster, and
held his Connaught adversary well in check. At length
O'Conor, determined on a final eflfort to crush him,
marched south with an army of the men of Connaught,
Meath, and Leinster, these last under their king Dermot
Mac Murrogh. of whom more will be heard in next chapter.
The Daleassian king had meantime been much weak-
ened by the defection of one of his own kinsmen who had
joined O'Conor against him ; he was indeed driven for a
short time from his throne. Returning now from a pre-
datory incursion into Desmond, he was caught at a dis-
advantage by unexpectedly meeting O'Conor's great army
»t & place called Moanmore, which has not been identified,
but which is in either Limerick or Tipperary. Here a
terrible battle was fought in 1151, in which the southern
army was almost annihilated : 7,000 of their men were left
dead on the field, with a number of the leading Munster
chiefs : the greatest slaughter witnessed in Ireland since
286 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS Part It
the day of Clontarf. And thus all Munator was brought
under the sway of the Connaught king. From this
downfall Turlogh O'Brien never recovered.
Murkertagh O'Loghlin or Mac Loghlin, prince of Ailech,
was now OConor's only opponent, and a very formidable
fue he proved. In the same year of the battle of Moan-
more — 1151 — he marched an army south to the Curlieu
Hills, threatening an invasion of Connaught, so that
O'Conor — now weakened after Moanraore — was forced
to send him hostages in token of submission. For the
purpose of weakening his adversary O'Loghlin espoused
the cause of O'Brien who had been banished to Ulster by
O'Conor ; and having defeated O'Conor's forces in course
of a successful raid, near Rahan in King's County (1153),
he restored O'Brien to his kmgdom of Thomond.
Next year (1154) Turlogh, collecting a great fleet
filled with an army of skilled mariners from the sea
margin and islands of Connaught, under the command of
O'Dowda, sailed northwards and plundered the coasts of
Tirconnell and Innishowen. To meet this invasion
O'Loghlin hired a Scoto-Danish fleet from the western
seaboards of Scotland, and from the Isle of Man ; and a
fierce naval battle was fought lasting from morning till
night, in which the Danish fleet was defeated and cap-
tured ; but the Iri^h commander was killed.
King Turlogh O'Conor never relinquished the struggle
for supremacy till the day of his death, which occurred in
1156: he is reckoned among the kings of Ireland. He
was a man of great ability, and he did not confine his
energies wholly to warfare. We have some indication of
the bent of his mind as a governor in the record that he
built, early in his reign, three great bridges ; a work of
much merit and utility in those days: — two over the
Shannon at Athlone and Shannon Harbour, and one over
the Suck at Ballinasloe. Besides these he had several
wicker bridges constructed. He also caused to be cele-
brated the ancient fair of Tailltenn (p. 89), which had
})robably fallen into disuse on account of the distui'bed
state of the country.
Cha». X. PREPARING THE WAY FOR THE INVADER 237
Turlogh was sucxjeeded ia 1156 as king of Connaught
by his son Rory, or as he is more commonly called,
lloderick O'Conor. Not long after his election, this new
king inarched towards Ulster to assert his claim to be
king of Ireland against O'Loghlin ; who however met him
on the old battle-ground at Ardee and inflicted on him a
severe defeat (1159). After this O'Conor acknowledged
O'Logblin's supremacy and sent him hostages.
And now O'Loghlin was the unquestioned king of
Ireland, and might have reigned long had he not committed
an act of gross and wanton treachery. In violation of a
solemn oath-bound treaty made in presence of the arch-
bishop of Armagh and several of the Ulster princes a year
belbre, he suddenly, without any provocation, seized Mac
Dunlevy prince of Dalaradia, with some other chiefs,
blinded Mac Dunlevy, and killed the others. This so
enraged O'Carroll of Oriell, who had been one of the
guarantees in the treaty, that he raised an army against the
monarch, and in a battle fought at a place called Letteriuiu
in Armagh in 1 1 66, defeated and slew him.
Roderick O'Conor had now no rival of any conse-
quence ; and receiving tokens of submission from many
quarters, he was formally and solemnly inaugurated king
(»f Ireland. Two years after (in 1168) he caused the fair
of Tailltenn to be celebrated by the people of Leth Conn
with all its ancient splendour ; and the Four Masters tell
us that their horses and cavalry extended all the way from
MuUach Aiti, or the Hill of Lloyd, to Tailltenn or Teltown,
a distance of seven miles. During his reign occurred the
most important events in the history of the country,
which wUl be related in the following chapters.
Theugh most of the great educational establishments
were broken up during the Danish ravages, many rose
from their ruins or held their ground, notwithstanding
that they were often ravaged both by Danes and natives.
Even to the beginning of the twelfth century Ireland still
retained gjme portion of her ancient fame for learning,
and we find the schools of Armagh, Lismore, Clonmacnoise,
238 IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS P/.ht H.
Honasterboice, and others still attracting great numbers
of students, many of them foreigners.' At this tinin
flourished the two great scholars and annalists, FJann of
Monasterboice and Tighernach of Clonmacnoise. Many
Irishmen also continued to distinguish themselves and to
found monasteries on the Continent, Marianus Scotus or
Mailbride went from his native Ulster to Germany about
1067, where he became the head of a community of monks
at Ratisbon, and had the reputation of being the most
learned man of his age.
Many grave abuses had crept into the church during
the Danish troubles — nearly all caused by the encroach-
ments of the lay chiefs : but they were all disciplinal irre-
gularities. One grave abuse we find frequently mentioned
— the usurpation of bishoprics and abbacies by laymen,
who of course did not attempt to discharge any spiritual
functions. Before the time of St. Celsus, St. Malachi's
predecessor, eight married laymen had usurped the see of
Armagh." We find no indication of any defection in doc-
trine— of any taint of heresy or schism. The ecclesiatical
authorities exerted themselves to correct these abuses;
and their solicitude and activity are shown by a number of
synods occurring about this time : in the one half-century
from 1111 to 1169, eleven synods were held at various
centres through the country. St. Malachi O'Morgair
archbishop of Armagh, one of the greatest men of the
Irish church (died 1148), was especially successful in his
endeavours to remove abuses and restore proper discipline.
That religion never lost its hold on the Irish kings and
chiefs, even during the time of their bitterest internecine
struggles, is shown by the successful interference for
peace on several occasions of the archbishop of Armagh, as
already mentioned (p. 232).
In 1101 Murkei"tagh O'Brien, who was then looked
upon as king of Ireland, having convened a meeting of the
clergy and laity of Leth Mow at the royal seat of Cashel,
solemnly dedicated that old city to God and St. Patrick,
and gave it to the church, as stated, p. 232, ' a grant such as
' Lanigan, iii. 490. * Cambrensis Eversus, ed. 1850, ii. 635.
■ f
CnAP. X. PREPARING THE WAY FOR THE INVADER. 239
no king ever made before.* Ten years later (in 1111) the
same Murkertagh caused an important synod, or rather a
great national convention, to be held at a place called Fid^
mic-Aengusa near Ushnagh in Westmeath, 'to prescribe
rules and good morals for all, both laity and clergy.' ' It
was attended by the archbishops of Cashel and Armagh,
and by 50 bishops, 300 priests, and 3,000 clergy of in-
ferior orders, as well as by king Murkertagh hinfself and
the chiefs of Leth Mow. Another synod was.held about
the same time at a place called Rathbrassil, which has not
been identified. At this synod the several dioceses all
over Ireland were clearly defined ; and it was ordained
that the lands and revenues allotted to the bishops for
their support should be exempted from public tax or tri-
bute. The subdivision into parishes gradually followed.
We have seen (p. 167) that in old times a chief bishop was
appointed to every chief tribe. When the dioceses were
marked out therefore they coincided with the districts
then occupied by the several chief tribes ; and to this day
a great many of the old tribal territories are pretty accu-
rately defined by the dioceses — more so than by the
counties or baronies. Some believe that the synod of
Eathbrassil was the same as that of Fid-mic-Aengusa : this
is Dr. Lynch's opinion,^ and he is probably rijj^ht.
The most memorable synod of this period was that
held at Kells in 1152, presided over by cardinal Paparo
the pope's legate, which was attended by twenty- one
bishops besides many abbots and priors and a great
number of the inferior clergy. The cardinal had brought
the palliums, which the great and good St. Malachi
O'Morgair archbishop of Armagh had solicited from the
pope some years before. Until this time there had been
only two archbishops in Ireland, those of Armagh and
Cashel ; but at this council Dublin and Tuam were con-
stituted archiepiscopal sees ; and the cardinal conferred
the four palliums on the four archbishops, declaring that
the archbishop of Armagh was primate over the others.
The several sees to be under each archbishop were also
' Four Masters, A.D. 1111. * Canibrerms Lvcrsus, ii. 53.
240
IRELAND UNDER NATIVE RULERS
Past IL
enumerated. There were decrees against simony and
usury, both then prevalent all over the Christian world, as
well as against other vices and irregularities. It was
ordained that tithes should be paid ; but this regulation
was not fully enforced till after the Anglo-Norman inva-
sion. All the decrees related to discipline and morality :
there was no reference — and no need of reference — to
points of faith or doctrine.
LIST OF KINGS OF IRELAND
From the beginning op the Chbistian Era to 1172, with
THE dates of their ACCESSION.
In compiling this List I have chiefly followed O'Flaherty's • Ogygia '
do¥m to King Laeghaire (a.d. 428). In this earl; part there is some
ancertaintyas to the exact dates: but after the time of Colla Haas the
dates may be taken as generally correct.
Conari I. (the Great) began
to reign about the first
year of the Christian Era.
Lugaid Riab Derg (Lewy of
the Red Circles)
Concobar Abrat Ruad (Conor
of the Red Brows) .
Crimthann (or Criifan) Nia
Nair
Carbery Cinncat (Cat-head)
Feradach Finn Fachtnach .
Fiatacb Finn
Fiacha Finnola . .
Elim Mac Connra
Tuathal the Legitimate
Mai Mac Rochride
Fedlimid Rechrmar (Felim
the Lawgiver) son of Tua-
thal the Legitimate .
Cathir Mor [Cahirmore]
Conn C«-dcathach (the Hun-
dred-fighter)
Conari Moglama (Conari IL)
Art Aenfer (the Solitary) son
of Conn Cedcathach .
AJ>.
65
73
74
90
95
117
119
126
130
IGO
164
174
177
212
220
A.I>.
Lugaid (or Lewy) Mac Con . 260
Fergus Dubhdedach (of the
Black Teeth) . . .253
Cormac Mac Art or Cormac
Ulfada (son of Art the
Solitary) . . . .254
Eochaid (or Achy) Gunnat . 277
Carbery Liffechair (of the
Liffey) . . . .279
Fiacha Sraibtine . • . 297
Colla Huas . . . .327
Muredach Tirech . • .381
Caelbad . . . .357
Eochaid Muigmedon (Achy
Moyvane) .... 358
Crimthan Mor (Criffan More) 3G6
Niall of the Nine Host-
ages 379
Dathi [Dauhi] . . . 405
Laeghaire [Leary] . . 428
Olioll Molt, son of Dathi . 463
S.' Lugaid (or Lewy) son of
Laeghaire. . . . 483
N.' Murkertach Mac Erca . 512
N. Tuathal Mailgarb . . 633
S. means Boutbem Hy Neill : N. Northern Hy Neill (see p. 134).
CnxT. X.
LIST OF KINGS OF IRELiVND
211
S, Uiarmaid or Dermot, son
of Fergus Kervall
N.Domnall I joint kings.Kons 1
N.Fergus / of Murkertachj
N, Haitan 1 . • . • •
N. Eochaid } J°'°*^ ^'''S^ '
N. Ainmire [An'mira] .
N. Baitan ....
N. Aed Mac Ainmire, or Hugh
son of Ainmire .
S. Aed Slaine 1 joint "^^
N. Coltnan Rimid f kings /
N. Aed (or Hugh) Uaridnach
N. Mailcoba
N. Suibne [Sweeny] Menn .
N. Domnalior Domill,Sunof
Aed Mac Ainmi e
N. Cellach or Kellach \ joint "I
N. Conall Cail /kings/
S. Blathmac V*'"' )'Y^\
.. T-i- J > sons of Aed >
b. Diarmaid J ^^,^.^^^ J
S. Sechnasacb, son of Blath-
mac . . .
S.Cennfaelad [Kenfaila], son
of Blathmac
S. Finachta Fledach^ (the
Festive) ....
N. Longsech . ,
N. Congal ....
N. Fergal ....
S. Fogartach Mac Neill
y. Cioiieth (or Kenneth) the
son of Irgalach .
N. Flathbertach or Flaher-
tagh
N. Aed (or Hugh) Allan, son
of King Fergal .
S. Domnall or Donall, son
of Murcad
N. Niall Frassach (i.e. of the
Showers) ....
A.D.
541
6G5
666
acs
571
572
C03
611
GI4
627
641
656
664
671
674
6U4
7(t4
711
722
724
727
734
743
763
S. Donncad or Donogh
N. Aed (or Hugh) urdnce,
son of Niall Frassach
S. Concobhar or Conor
N. Niall Caillne ,
S. Mailsechlann or Malachi I,
N. Aed (or Hugh) Finnliath
S. Fiann Sinna (of the Shan'
non) ....
N. Niall Glanduff
S. Donncad or Donogh
S. C.'orgalach
N. Domnall O'Neill, son of
Murkertagh of the Leather
Cloaks . . . .
S. Mailsechlann or Malachi
II
Brian Borama, or Boruma, or
Boru . . . .
S. Mailsechlann or Malachi
II. (resumes) .
770
797
819
8:i3
846
863
87!)
916
919
944
956
980
1002
1014
Kings 'with Opposition.'
Donncad or Donogh, son pf
Brian Bora . . 1027
Diarmaid Mac Mail-nara-bo
(Dermot Mac Mailnamo)
of the race of Cahirmore . 1064
Turl gh O'Brien of the Dal-
gas 1072
Murkertach or Murtogh
O'Brien .... 1086
N. Donall O'Loghlann . . 10t>6
(Both reckoned as kings
of Ireland.)
Turloch O'Conor . . .1136
N. Murkertagh 0'Lo?hlann . 1151
Rory or Roderick O'Conor 1166
NOTE ON THE DANISH RAVAGES.
The following short statement will give some idea of the wholesale
destruction wrought by the Danes aming the sea is of learning and
piety in Ireland, during the two centuries compiLstd in Chapters VH.
R
•242 NOTE ON THE DANISH EAVAGE8 Pinr IT.
Armagh : sacked and pillaged three times in on« month by Tnr-
gesius, in or about 832: ravagt'd and plundered in 839, 850, 873, 87B,
890 (when the Danes carried off 719 persons into captivity), 898, 895,
898, 914, 919, 92fi, 931, 943, 995, 1012, and 1021 (when the whole ciiy
was burned, with churches and books),
Glendalough : plundered and devastated in 830, 883, 886, 977, 982,
984, 985. lOltt.
Clonard: plundered and devastated in 838, 887, 888, 996, 1012,
1016, 1020.
Clonraacnoise : plundered in 838 (with the whole line of religions
houses along the Shannon) : again four times in nine years ending 845 ;
and at frequent inter\als afterwards.
Besides the above and tho>e already named in Chapter VII., the
ecclesiastical establishments at the following places were ravagi-d,
nearly all of them frequently ; and it will be seen that neither distance
nor seclusion was any protection : — lona ; Inishmurray in Sligo ;
Clonenagh; Killeigh ; Ardhraccan; Birr; Seirkieran; Derry; Donagh-
patrick ; Downpatrick ; Clones; Darinis ; Skellig Rock off Kerry;
Timolin ; Scattery Island ; Dunderrow ; Kilraolash ; Slane ; Mungret ;
liduth; the two Clonftrts; Movilla; Kille«dy; Devenish ; Ferns;
Freshford ; Aghaboe ; Durrow ; Rosscarbery ; Kenmare ; Fingl^s ;
Emiy; Kells ; Clondalkin; and many other.s too numerous to be
mentioned here. In the Annals and in the ' Wars of the Gaels with the
Galls,' in addition to these details, we find numerous records such as
these : — ' [On one occasion] they plundered the greater part of tt e
churches of Erin ' : • Magh Brpt'h was plundered by them, both country
and churches ' : ' They destroyed all thg churches of Hy Cotiaill,' &c.
On all these occasions numbers of people were killed or carried oif
into slavery ; every valuable thing was plundered ; and all books
>»'ithin reach were destroyed, by being either burned or ' drowned ' —
i.e, thrown into water.
The wonder is that any trace of learning or civilisation was left in
the country.
NOTE ON IRISH LITERATURE.
After Part I. of this book had been printed, a woik was published to
which thereader's attention must be directed :■:— * Silva Gadelica,' 2 vols.
by Standish Hayes O'Grady. The first volume contains Irish text of 31
pieces, viz. 4 Lives of Saints and 27 Tales, including many of those I
liave mentioned in Part I. chaps, ii, and v. Second volume, translations —
accurate and in pure English— of the pieces in the first volume, with
notes. This is the most scholarly and valuable work illustrative of the
ancient romantic literature of Ireland that has yet appeared.
PART III
THE PEBIOD OF THE INVASION
1172-1547
In this Third Part is told the story of the Anglo-Norman
Invasion, beginning with the expedition of Fitzstephen
and Prendergast, and ending with the reign of Henry VIII.,
the first English monarch who assumed the title of king
of Ireland.
The conquest of Ireland, whose history we are now
about to enter upon, might have been accomplished in a
few years, if only proper measures had been adopted.
Why it took so long was pointed out nearly three hundred
years ago by Sir John Davies in his little work entitled
' A discoverie of the true causes why Ireland was never en-
tirely subdued till the beginning of the reign of James I.' *
The force employed, in the first instance, was wholly
insufficient for conquest. The king did not reside in
Dublin; and there was no adequate representative of
royalty with state and power to overawe the whole people,
both native and colonial. There was always indeed a
governor, but never with sufficient force and influence to
rule either the natives or the colonists ; while at the same
' Sir John Davies was an Englishman, James I.'s Irish attorney-
general, and was emplo3H d in 16()3 by that king to carrj- out the
Hct extending English law to all Ireland. He was a sensible, just-
minded, and very able man ; and his Discoverie is one 6t the most
Mjlid and valua .le documents ever written about the invasion and
conquest of Ireland.
E 2
214 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION' Pa -t III.
time his presence rendered a native government impos-
sible. The gi-eat Anglo-Norman lords had too much
power in their hands, and for their own selfish ends kept
the country in a state of perpetual warfare. Great tracts
of land belonged to absentees living in England, who
mei'ely drew their rents and did nothing for the country.
But the most fatal and disastrous mistake of all was this.
The native Irish, sick of anarchy, would have welcomed
any strong government able and willing to maintain peace
and protect them from violence. But the English
government, instead of treating them as subjects to be
cared for, and placing them under the law that ruled the
colonists — as the Romans did to the Britons, William the
Conqueror to the Anglo-Saxons, and Edward I. to the
Welsh — treated them and designated them from first to
last as ' Irish enemies,' and refused them the protection of
Euglisih law.
All these and much more Sir John Davies points out
very clearly in his valuable essay ; and they will be set
forth in detail in the succeeding chapters of this book.
Henry II. did not conquer Ireland : it would have
been better for both nations if he had. It took more
than four centuries to do that — probably the longest
conquest-agony recorded in history ; which * cost both
nations unbounded treasures and outpourings of blood,
and brought upon Ireland the contemptuous pity, and
upon England the moral reprobation of all Europe.' '
' A Short History 0/ the Irish People : by A. G. Eichey, Q.C., LL.p.
edited by Bobert Bomney Kane, LL.D.
CuAP. L DERMOT MAC MURROGH 245
CHAPTER I
DERMOT MAC MUHROGH
[Chief authorities : The Irish Annals : Giraldns Cambrensls :
Morice Regan.]
The reader will remember that in the battle of Moanmore,
the men of Leinster, fighting on the side of Turlogh
0 Conor, were led by their king Derraot Mac Murrogh
(p. 235). This Dermot, who was in after times often
called Dermot-na-Gall (of the English), was a man of great
size and strength, stem in manner, brave and fierce in
war; and his voice was loud and hoarse from constant
shouting in battle. He was cruel, tyrannical, and
treacherous, and was hated in his own day as much as his
memory has been hated ever since. His whole life was a
record of violence and villainy. In 1135 he took the ab-
bess of Kildare from her convent and forced her to marry
one of his followers ; and when the townspeople attempted
to prevent the sacrilege, he killed 170 of them, including
some of the nuns. The onl)* good features of his character
known to us were that he made himself in a degree popular
with the lower classes, and that he was very liberal in
founding and endowing churches and monasteries in his
own province of Leinster.
In 1152, a few months after the battle of Moanmore,
he carried off Dervorgilla the wife of Teman O'Ruarc
prince of Brefney, while O'Ruarc himself was absent from
home. This was done with the consent, not only of the
lady herself, but of her brother O'Melaghlin prince of
Meath ; and she took away with her all the cattle, furni-
ture, and jewels she had brought to her husband as dowry.
O'Ruarc appealed for redress to Turlogh O'Conor king
of Ireland — the victor of Moanmore — who, although he
and Mac Muirogh had hitherto been on good terms,
marched with an army into Lein^r (in 1153) and forced
him to restore Dervorgilla and all her rich dowiy. This
246 THE PERIOD OF TKE INVASION Takt KL
transaction earned for O'Conor, and for his son and suc-
cessor Roderick, the undying hate of Dermot, who ever
after, so long as any power remained in his hands, took
part with the Ulster king O'Loghlin in the struggles of
Ulster and Connaught for supremacy. Dervorgilla retired
after a little time to the abbey of Mellifont, where she
spent the rest of her days doing works of penitence and
charity, and where she died in 1193 at the age of 85.
So long as king Murkertagh O'Loghlin lived he
befriended Dermot and secured him in possession of
Leinster. But when that king was slain — in 1166— and
Roderick O'Conor the son of Turlogh became king of Ire-
land, then Dermot was left at the mercy of his numerous
enemies. In this very year (1166)Teruan O'Ruarc led an
army against him, composed of the men of Brefney and
Meath, joined by the Dano-Irish of Dublin under their
king Hasculf Mac Turkill, and by the incensed people of
Leinster. Seeing that resistance was hopeless, Dermot,
breathing vengeance against his revolted subjects, fled
across the sea, resolved to seek the aid of the great king
Henry II. of England. Then a solemn sentence of
banishment wa« pronounced against him ; and the princes
and leaders of the invading army, having appointed a new
king of Leinster, returned to their homes, fondly imagining
that they had heard the last of the turbulent and hateful
D^rmot-na-Gall.
Many years before this time king Henry had resolved
to attempt the conquest of Ireland at the first favourable
opportunity. In the very year that he became king
(1154) Nicholas Breakspear, an Englishman, had been
elected Pope, with the title of Adrian IV. ; and Henry
sent an embassy to him to congratulate him on his
election. In the following year he sent John of Salisbury
to Rome with a cunning and designing message. This
envoy represented to the Pope that Ireland was in a most
deplorable condition, that religion had almost disappeared,
and that the people were sunk in ignorance and vice. He
said moreover that his master was very much concerned
at the condition of the country ; and he asked the Pope'a
Ciup. I. DERMOT MAC MUREOGH 247
permission for king Henry to take possession of it in order
to bring back the people to a state of order and religion.
Thoagh there were still many grave religious abuses—
the natural result of nearly three centuries of war and tur-
moil— yet the country was, as we have seen (pp. 238, 239),
steadily recovering, and there is no doubt that this account
of its spiritual condition was grossly exaggerated. We
know that there had been a continued succession of great
and good bishops in the country down to the time of the
invasion, including St. Celsus, St. Malachi O'Morgair,
and St. Laurence O'Toole, who seem to have been very
well able, without help from outside, to grapple with
such religious disorders as they encountered. St. Malachi,
who knew the country well, visited Pope Innocent II. in
1139, and, we find nothing in the communications that
passed between them pointing to such a state of spiritual
degradation in Ireland as is pictured by John of Salisbury.
A similar observation applies to the synod of Kells in
1152, presided over by Cardinal Paparo (p. 239) ; and the
general proceedings at this synod indicate great spiritual
activity on the part of the Irish clergy. But the most
signal proof of the falsehood of John of Salisbury's report
is to be found in the decrees of the synod of Cashel, which
was held by direction of Henry II. when he was in Ire-
land in 1172 : a synod which was to cure the tremendous
spiritual evils complained of in the report. These decrees,
which are fully given by Giraldus Cambreusis,* all deal
with matters of discipline, none with doctrine, and do not
indicate any very serious spiritual degeneration in the
Irish church. Moreover it is certain that what Henry
had at heart was not the interests of religion as he pre-
tended— for personally he had little or no sense of religion
— but to conquer and annex Ireland. '
The Pope, yielding to Henry's solicitations, issued a
bull or letter making over to him the kingdom of Ireland,
enjoining him to preserve inviolate the rights of the church,
and stipulating that a penny should be paid annually to
the chair of St. Peter from every house in Ireland. Some
* Conquett of Ireland^ Book I. chap, zxxiv.
2-18 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION P.vrjT IH.
writerF', and among them scholars of eminence, have (ques-
tioned the issue of this bull. But the evidence is over-
whelming on the other side ; and there is no sufficient
leason to doubt that the Pope, deceived by misrepresenta-
tion, did really issue the bull, with the firm conviction
that it would be for the advancement of religion and for
the good of Ireland. Perhaps too much has been made of
this bull in connection with the annexation of Ireland.
It did not originate the invasioi^, which would have taken
place if it had never existed. King Henry made little or
no use of it : it was only in 11 75, at a synod in Water-
ford, that he had it made public, having indeed no need
of it, except as a justification ; and he did not trouble him-
self much about that. If he had regarded the bull as of
great importance he would have exhibited it to the Irish
bishops and princes when he visited Ireland in 1171.
Let us now return to Dermot. He presented himself
before the king at Aquitaine, in 1168, and prayed him for
help against his enemies, offering to hold his kingdom of
Leinster under him, and to acknowledge him as lord and
master. The king eagerly accepted the offer : but being
then too busy with the affairs of his own kingdom to go
himself, he gave Dermot letters, permitting any of his British
or French subjects that pleased, to join the expedition.
Dermot returned to England in high spirits, and going
to Bristol, he met there a man of a stamp such as exactly
suited his purpose ; Richard de Clare, earl of Pembroke,
better known by the name of Strongbow. This nobleman,
now between fifty and sixty years of age, belonged to
an illustrious family : but from various causes he was at
this time in a state of poverty. Seeihg in the enterprise
proposed by the Irish king some hope of retrieving his
fortune, he eagerly entered into the design, on condition
that he should get Dermot's daughter Eva in marriage,
and should succeed him as king of Leinster. An Irish
king was elected and maintained in his position by his
people ; and Dermot had no more right to give away the
kingdom of Leinster than a lord lieutenant of our own dny
Laa to give away Ireland. He knew this perfectly well,
CiTAP. I. DERMOT MAC MURROGH 2 19
but cared nothing for it ; all he wanted was to induce
Strongbow to help him. Strongbow was, most likely, igno-
rant of the Irish law : and if he had known it he would no
doubt have had as little respect for it as Dermot himself.
Dermot next proceeded to St. David's in Wales, which
was then the chief residence of the Geraldine family. These
Geraldines, who were of ancient and noble descent, were
Normans in the male line and Welsh in the female, so that
they should be called Cambro-Normans rather than Anglo-
Normans. But bearing this in mind, the term Anglo-
Normans, as a convenient designation, will henceforward
be applied indiscriminately to all the invaders of this
period. Dermot engaged a number of these ; amongst
others, Maurice Fitzgerald and Robert Fitzstephen, half-
brothers. They were to get for their share from Dermot
the town of Wexford and the adjoining district, which
Dermot well knew belonged to the Danes, and had belonged
to them for two centuries. And there were others who
will be named as our narrative proceeds. The chief Geral-
dine leaders, who were nearly related to each other, and
also to Giraldus Cambrensis the historian, were all needy
and daring adventurers, ready to enter on any enterprise
however dangerous that promised plenty of plunder. Such
were the men the vindictive old king engaged to work out
his traitorous designs against his country.
It was now the end of the year (1168), and Dermot,
leaving his new allies to complete their arrangements,
returned by secret ways to Ferns in Wexford, his capital,
just two years after his expulsion. Here he remained
concealed during the winter in the Augustinian monastery
he himself had founded, n
The Anglo-Normans, who are henceforward to play a
chief part in our history, came originally from Scandinavia.
About the beginning of the tenth century a great expedi-
tion led by Rollo, conquered and settled in that part of
France still called from them, Normandy. In course of
time they became Christians and adopted the French lan-
guage, dress and customs. After a residence in France of
2rO THE PEEIOD OF THE INVASION Pat?t HI.
about a century and a half, they conquered England ; and
having ruled there for another century, they established
colonies in Ireland, where in course of time their swa^,
as in England, extended over the whole country.
In many respects the Anglo-Normans resembled the
Romans of old. They were a great race, brilliant, warlike,
and energetic, but cruel and relentless to those who resisted
them. They were great builders, and filled England and
Ireland with castles, monasteries, and cathedrals, many of
which still remain to bear testimony to the magnificent
architectural conceptions of the founders. They were
mighty warriors. Besides being personally brave and
daring, they were supremely skilful in all those arts of war
suitable to the times. They wore coats of mail, were cele-
brated then as after for expertness in the use of the lonj>-
bow ; and, above all, they were under thorough discipline
on the field of battle.
The Irish mode of going to battle was totally difierent.
They were, as we have seen (p. 116), individually brave,
and expert in the use of their weapons ; but they lacked
the scientific skill of their opponents, their discipline was
loose, and they fought rather in crowds than in regularly
arranged ranks. They had no walled cities. Their best
defence was the nature of the country, abounding in im-
passable bogs and forests ; and their most effective strategy
was to hang on the flanks and rear of an invading army,
and harass and slay as opportunity offered. So long as
they kept to this, they could hold their own even against
superior numbers. But in open fighting their tunic-clad
tumultuous crowds were, number for number, no match
for the steel-cased disciplined Anglo-Norman battalions.
Yet they were quick to learn ; and as time went on, the
invaders began to find their own military skill often
successfully turned to account against themselves.
After the battle of Clontarf no attempt was made to
expel the Danes ; they remained in the country ; but they
made no great figure, and from that time forth gave little
trouble. Long before the period we are now entering on,
Chap. X. DERMOT MAC MURROGH 251
they had embraced Christianity, had settled down as ordi-
nary citizens, and devoted themselves to industry and
commerce. At the time of the invasion they formed a large
proportion of the inhabitants of the "maritime towns —
Dublin, Carlingford, Lame, Wexford, Waterford, Limerick,
Cork, &c., many of which were governed by Danish chiefs,
in a great measure or altogether independent of the Irish
princes. They had walled and fortified their towns, while
the native centres of population continued, after the Irish
custom, open and unprotected. Though forming distinct
communities, they intermarried a good deal with the
natives, stood on the whole on good terms with them, and
at first, as we shall see, generally took sides with them
against the new invaders.
CHAPTER II
THE FIHST ANGLO-NORMAN ADVENTURERS
[The chief authorities for the events of the early part of the Invasion
are (jriraldus Cambrensis and Morice Ilegan, two contemporary
writers. Giral<\us visited Ireland with Prince John in 1 185. Began
was Dermot Mac Murroerh's st-cretary. He gave his account of the
invasion to a Frenchman who turned it into French verse. It is
translated (imperfectly) in Harris's 'Hibemica*; and it has lately
(1892) been published — PVench text and translation complete, with
notes — by Mr. Gtxidard Ht-nry Orpen, with the title ' The Song of
Dermot and the Earl.' This is tlie edition I use: Regan's original
is lost. Giraldus's account ends with the visit of Prince John in
1185 (Chap. VII.): Began ends with the taking of Limerick by
Raymond in 1175 (Cliap. V.). In the main they agree, but often
ditfer in details. In the Irish Annals there is little detailed informa-
tion about the proceedings of the Anglo-Normans for some time after
their arrival ; bat the few notices they have are very important.]
In fulfilment of the promises made to Dermot Mac Murrogh,
a force of 100 knights and men-at-arms in coats of mail
and about 600 archers, under Robert Fitzstephen and
Maurice Prendergast, landed in the month of May, 1169,
at the harbour of Bannow in Wexford. The total force
was probably not less than 2,000 (see note, p. 255)^ With
them ' also came over a man of fallen fortunes, Hervey
Mountmaurice, who, having neither armour nor money,
252 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION P;»i*t III.
Mil 3 a spy rather than a soldier, and, as such, acting for
]virl Richard (Strongbow), whose uncle he was.' ' They
were joined by Derraot and his son, Donall Kavanagh,
with 500 horsemen ; and as there was no army to oppose
thera, they advanced on the town of Wexford.
The townsmen — Danes and Irish — went forth to oppose
them; but scared by the disciplined array of the strangers,
and by their cavalry with bright armour, helmets, and
shields, they retired behind their fortifications, burning the
suburbs to deprive the invaders of shelter. Fitzstephen
straightway led his troops to scale the wall ; but here the
townsmen resisted so valiantly, hurling down great stones
and beams of timber on the assailants, that he was forced
to withdraw, leaving eighteen of his men dead beneath the
walls ; and going to the strand he caused his men to set
fire to all the ships they found lying there.
Next morning, when he was about to renew the assault,
the townspeople, urged on by the clergy, who wished to
prevent further bloodshed, came to terms. Wexford was
surrendered ; and the people unwillingly returned to thoir
old king's allegiance, and gave him hostages. Then Dermot
carried out his promise by going through the form of
granting Wexford and the adjoining district to Robert
Fitzstephen and Maurice Fitzgerald — the latter of whom
had not yet arrived. He granted also to Mountmaurice
the district lying between the towns of Wexford and
W^aterford. And he conducted the strangers to his own
city of Ferns, where he feasted them for three weeks.
And now he made up his mind to settle scores with an
old enemy, Mac Gilla Patrick, prince ot the neighbouring
sub-kingdom of Ossory : for shortly before, that chief,
in a sudden fit of jealousy, had seized upon Dermot "s son
Enna and put out his eyes. With an army of 3,000,
besides the band of Anglo-Normans having Fitzstephen,
Prendergast, Mountmaurice, Robert de Barri, and Meyler
FitzHenry at their head, he marched into the district.
The Ossorians, under Mac Gilla Patrick, took up a strong
position protected by woods and bogs, and made a brave
' Giraldus. II. chap. iii.
CirAr. IJ. THE FIRST ANGLO-NORMAN ADVENTURERS 253
and obstinate resistance. But tempted by a feigned
le treat to issue forth in pursuit of the enemy on the open
plain, where the Norman cavalry could attack without
obstruction, they were ultimately defeated. Giraldus tells
a horrible story of Dermot's conduct on this occasion.
After the battle, 200 heads of the Ossorians were ranged
out as a trophy before him. He took them up one by one,
and gazed at them, till at last recognising the head of a
])ersonal enemy, he held it up by the ears and hair and
lore the face with his teeth. After this his army ravaged
Ossory with fire and sword, till Mac Gilla Patrick was
forced to sue for peace and submit to Dermot.
So far King Roderick had taken no steps to stay the
progress of the invaders. But now at last he became
alarmed ; and summoning the Irish princes with their fol-
lowers, he marched with a large army towards Ferns,
where he found the king of Leinster and his foreign
auxiliaries strongly entrenched. Dermot's army had now
however become greatly reduced by the desertion of the
natives, who wer§ seized with a panic of fear when they
heard of the approach of the king of Ireland. But the
feeble-minded monarch, instead of promptly attacking the
rebel king and his few foreign auxiliaries, sent persuasive
messages to win Dermot and Fitzstephen to submission ;
and Dermot, seeing he was too weak to resist, agreed to a
peace merely to gain time. He was restored to his king-
dom on condition — which was kept secret from his new
friends — that he should send home the foreigners and
bring hither no more of them ; and he gave his favourite
son Conor and two other relatives as hostages for the
faithful fulfilment of his part of the treaty. Then king
l^oderick returned to his own province, satisfied that he
had fully performed his duty, and quite unsuspicious of the
wiles of Dermot.
No sooner had the king of Leinster succeeded in avert-
ing present danger than he broke his oathbound promises,
and returned to his old work. Hearing that Maurice
Fitzgerald had landed at Wexford, he hastened to meet
tim, and with the united forces he marched on Dublin, then
254 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pai.t IIL
governed by the Dano-Irish king Hasculf Mac Turkill ;
while Fitzstephen remained in Wexford and busied him-
self in building his castle at Carrick on the Slaney, two
miles above Wexford. And they wasted the district round
the city with fire and sword till the citizens were forced
to submit.
At this critical time, while the Ard-ri was feebly
struggling against foreign invaders and domestic enemies,
Donall O'Brien prince of Thomond threw oflf his allegi-
ance to him ; and when Roderick marched south to reduce
him to submission, he was repulsed by the united forces
of O'Brien and Fitzstephen, and returned to Connaught
defeated and humiliated. O'Brien was Dermot's son-in-
law, which to some extent palliates his conduct ; but in
justice to him it must be observed that— as the reader
will find — his eyes were soon opened to the real state of
things, and that he subsequently became a most valiant
and obstinate defender of his country.
At last Dermot, elated with success, became more am-
bitious, and resolved to make himself king of Ireland.
But feeling that he was not strong enough to enforce this
claim, he sent a pressing message across the sea to Strong-
bow urging him to fulfil his promise. Accordingly, on the
1st of May, 1170, Strongbow despatched a small force of
knights and archers,* under Raymond Fitzgerald, commonly
called Raymond le Gros, intending himself to follow soon
after. They landed on a rocky point called Dundonnell on
the coast of Wexford, a few miles south of Waterford city,
where they threw up a temporary fort, and laid in provi-
sions by plundering the neighbouring district, hoping to be
able to hold out till the arrival of Strongbow.
Scarcely had they completed the fort when a great
multitude of Danes and Irish, with contingents from
Decies under O'Faelan, and from Idrone under O'Ryan,
about 3,000 in all, came marching from Waterford to attack
' Giraldus says ten knights and seventy archers. But the total
numbers were ten times larger, for Regan (p. 119: ed. 1892) states
that Raymond, when he joined Strongbow and Dermot in the march
tu Dablin, three months later, had 8iH) companions ; none having joined
him meantime. (See note, next page.)
Chap. H. THE FIEST ANGLO-NORMAN ADrENTUEERS 255
them. Raymond instantly made his dispositions with
great skill. Within the fort was a herd of cows, which at
the moment of the attack were driven out through the
gate: at the same time the soldiers scared them by
shouting and clashing their arms, so that the animals,
affrighted with the din on every side, rushed madly among
the Irish and caused horrible confusion. Just then Ray-
mond, watching his opportunity, sallied out with his band
and fell on the disordered multitude, who, after much
furious fighting, turned and fled, leaving 500 dead around
the fort. And besides those that fell fighting, many
perished by being driven over the cliffs into the sea.
The brilliancy of this gallant defence was stained by
an act of barbarous cruelty. By the advice of Mount-
maurice, and against the will of Raymond — according to
Giraldus — seventy of the principal citizens, who had been
taken prisoners, were sentenced to be executed. Their
limbs were first broken ; and then the wretched captives,
still living, were hurled over the sharp rocks into the sea.
After this Raymond remained unmolested in his fort for
three months, awaiting the arrival of his chiet
CHAPTER in
STRONGBOW
While these things were taking place in Ireland, Strong-
bow was diligently making preparations for his expedi-
tion. Embarking at Milford, he landed near Waterford
on the 23rd August, 1170, with an army of 3,000 men.*
He was immediately joined by Raymond le Gros with 800
men, by Miles de Cogan with 700, and by Dermot with
1,000: making in all about 5,500 men; and the very
next morning they marched straight on the city of Water-
' This is the number given by Regan (p. 119 : ed. 1892), who is no
doubt right. Giraldus makes the number only 1,000 ; but he probably
counts knights and archers only. But knights and archers h^d attend-
ants : so that here there may be no real discrepancy betweei} Keg.in
and Giraldus. It is not so ea^y to reconcile the great disagreement in
note, last page.
256 TTTE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Paut TIT.
ford, then governed by two Danish chiefs, Smorth and
Reginald. The mhabitants made a brave defence, and
twice repulsed the assailants ; but at length Raymond, at
the head of a small party, made a breach in the wall by
pulling down a wooden house ; and through this they rushed
in. Then there was little more resistance ; and the
people, young and old, were slaughtered in vast numbers
as they fled panic-stricken through the streets. At this
juncture Dermot Mac Muirogh, whom the earl had sent
for, arrived bn the scene with FitzstepLen and Fitzgerald,
and saved the lives of the Danish chief Reginald and of
O'Faelan prince of the Decies, who had been taken
prisoners; and Strongbow took possession of the town.
Then Dermot carried out his promise ; and the marriage
of Strongbow and Eva was solemnised while the streets
ran red with the blood of the citizens.
Scarcely had the ceremony ended when tidings came
that Hasculf of Dublin had revolted against Dermot. It
should be remarked that Dermot had an old grudge
against the people of Dublin ; for, some years before this,
they had killed his father aiid buried his body with a dog ;
and now came the opportunity for vengeance. Leaving
a suflScient garrison in Waterford, Dermot and Strongbow
marched direct to Dublin wirh an army of about 4,000
English and 1,000 Irish ; and they made their way over
the mountains by Glendalough ; for Dermot's scouts had
reported to him that the roads and passes of the plains were
beset by king Roderick all the way to Clondalkin. When
the citizens beheld this formidable army pouring down
the hill-slopes towards the city, and gathering before the
walls, they were so terrified that they sent their illustrious
and saintly archbishop Laurence O'Toole with conditions
of surrender. Through his mediation a truce was agreed
on till terms of peace should be settled. But even while
the negotiations were going on, and after the conclusion
of the truce, Raymond le Gros and Miles de Cogan, with a
band of followers, forced their way into the city, and falling
on the unresisting citizens butchered them without mercy.
Hasculf and a large number of his people made their
Chap. HI. STEONGBOW 257
escape on board ship and sailed for the Scottish isles ; all
negotiations came to an end ; and Dermot and Strongbow
remained in possession of the city (1170).
D I mot in his hour of triumph did not forget his old
foe O'Ruarc, who at this time ruled over East Meath.
Leaving Dublin in charge of Miles de Cogan, he and his
allies entered Meath, which they desolated with horrible
bdrbaiiry, burning and plundering the villages, home-
steads, and churches, and killing the people wherever they
met them. King Roderick, instead of taking decisive mea-
sures,^ now sent a feeble message to Dermot 06biplaining'
of his breach of faith, and threatening to put the hostages
to death. But Dermot sent a defiant reply; whereupon
the king caused the three hostages— Dermof's son and
grandson and another — to be executed.
The progress of the invaders began now to excite
general alarm, and * a synod of all the clergy of Ireland
was convoked at Armagh, in which the arrival of the
foreigners in the island was the subject of long debates and
much deliberation. At length it was unanimously re-
solved, that it appeared to the synod the divine ven-
geance had brought upon them this severe judgment for
the sins of the people, and especially for this, that they
had long been wont to purchase natives of England as well
from traders as from robbers and pirates, and reduce them
to slaveiy : and that now they also, by reciprocal justice,
were reduced to servitude by that very nation. For it was
the common practice of the Anglo-Saxon people to sell
their children, and they used to send their own sons and
kinsmen for sale in Ireland, at a time when they were not
suffering from poverty or famine. It was therefore de-
creed by the synod and proclaimed publicly by universal
accord, that all Englishmen throughout the island who
were in a state of bondages should be restored to freedom.' *
Giraldus does not inform us how far this proclamation was
obeyed.
In the spring of next year, 1171, the main cause of
all these calamities, the arch-traitor Dermot, while busy
* Girald. Cambr. Conquest of Irel. I. xviii. : Bobn's transl.
258 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part III.
preparing farther outrages, died at Ferns. The Annals of
the Four Masters and of Clonmacnoise state that he died
of an unknown loathsome disease and impenitent to the
last. But a contemporary writer in the Book of Leinster,
who should know better, says he died a natural death, and
very penitently : — ' He died at Ferns after the victory of
unction and penance, in the 61st year of his age ' : which
is no doubt the truth.' Immediately after his death Earl
Richard had himself proclaimed king of Leinster.
The fame of the great conquests made by Strongbow
got noised abroad, so that it came to the ears of King
Henry. He had at first looked on the whole expedition
with indifference and contempt : now that it was attended
with success it excited his jealousy : and he dreaded with
good cause that Strongbow might found a powerful in-
dependent kingdom in his immediate neighbourhood. He
at once issued an edict forbidding farther intercourse with
Ireland, and commanding all his subjects who were there
with Strongbow io return home forthwith, under penalty
of treason. At the same time he began to lay plans for
his own expedition. And now Strongbow found himself
reduced to dire distress. He was in want of provisions,
and all reinforcements were stopped, so that he was
barely able to maintain himself. The little band of
Anglo-Normans in the midst of these great difficulties,
were soon assailed from every side and were preserved from
utter destruction only by their own indomitable bravery.
Hasculf Mac Turkill since his flight from Dublin had
not been idle. He collected an army aud now (1171)
sailed up the Liffey with sixty ships full of Norwegians
and men of the Isles of Scotland, and assaulted the east
gate of the city near the present Cork Hill. They were
under the command of a terrible Dane from the Orkneys
named John the Mad, and all were armed with mail,
breastplate, and shield — iron-hearted as well as iron-armed
men. Miles de Cogan the governor of the city, in no way
scared, made a sally^om the gate, but was driven back
by superior numbers. Meantime his brother Richard de
• Jiook of Leinster, p. 'd'J, col. 4, line 22.
CiTAP. m. STRONGBOW *i5D
Gogan, passing out silently with a small party at the western
gate, came round and attacked the Danes in the rear :
and when those in the city heard the shouts, Miles again
rushing out, fell on them. The Danes, taken front and
rear, fell into confusion and fled : John the Mad, fighting
desperately, just as he had lopped off the mailed thigh of a
knight, was himself killed by the hand of Miles de Cogan.
A vast number were slain, and Hasculf was captuted just
as he was entering his ship on the strand. The captive
leader was brought before Miles de Cogan, and with im-
prudent boldness said to him : ' This is only the begin-
ning : if I am alive we shall come down on this city with
a much more numerous band ! ' Whereupon de Cogan
ordered his head to be struck off on the spot.
But no sooner was this danger averted than there
arose another one much more formidable." The patriotic
archbishop Laurence O'Toole seeing the straits of the in-
vaders, and thinking this a good opportunity for a com-
bined effort to expel them, went through the country from
province to province, and persuaded the kings and chiefs to
join in an attempt to crush the enemy at one blow. And
numerous contingents began to march from every side
towards Dublin ; so that a great army was soon encamped
round about the city, all under the nominal command of
king Roderick. And they were joined by a Danish contin-
gent from the Isle of Man and elsewhere, who entered the
Liffey with thirty ships, and cut off communication by sea.
For two whole months (of 1 1 71) the king let his army lie
inactive in their tents ; but though they never attempted
an assault, they reduced the garrison to great straits by
stopping all supplies. To add to the distress of the be-
leaguered adventurers, Donall Kavanagh, arriving from
Wexford, made his way with a small party into the city with
news that Fitzstephen was surrounded bv the Irish in his
castle of Carrick (p. 254).
Then Strongbow, with the consent of his companion
chiefs, sent the archbishop to King Eoderick, offering to
fciibmit, and to hold his kingdom of Leinster in fealty to
him. But xioderick sent back word that he would give
82
260 TUE PEF.IOD OF THE INVASION Paut 111
Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford to the earl, but not an
acre of Leinster outside the walls of those three cities :
and that if these terms were not accepted, Dublin woiild
be attacked next day. Driven to desperation by this
answer, they came to the resolution to attempt to cut their
way in a body through the enemy ; and they selected for
the attack that part of the besieging army which was
under Roderick's immediate command between Castleknock
and Finglns. During all this time the king, confident in
his numbers, had grown quite careless, adopting none of
the piecautipns usual in such cases, and had allowed his
army to become a mere confused mass without discipline
or order, something like the crowds in a fair.
About 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the desperate little
band — 600 Anglo-Normans — cavalry and footmen all well
armed — with some Irish under Donall Kavanagh, sud-
denly sallied out and, marching towards Finglas in three
divisions, took the Irish completely by surprise : so that at
the first alarm they fled, making scarce any resistance.
The king himself, who happened to be in his bath at this
very time, escaped with much difliculty half-naked from the
field. The panic spread rapidly through the whole army ;
and the various contingents, having no bond of unity,
broke up and fled. And the garrison returned triumphant
to the city, laden with booty, and with provisions enough
for a whole year.*
Leaving Miles de Cogan once more in charge of the
city, Strongbow set out for Wexford to relieve his friend
Fitzstephen. He had to fight his way through some
. places : but he arrived at last only to fii>4|hat he was too
late. Fitzstephen had surrendered and wa^^pwa prisoner
in the town of Wexford (which must have*|been recovered
meantime by the Irish). Strongbow advanc^ on the town ;
but the inhabitants, first setting it on fire, retired with their
prisoner to the island of Begerin. And they sent word to
the earl that if he attempted to molest them, they would
certainly cut oflF the heads of all the prisoners. So he was
• Cambrensia and the Four Masters place the siege by Koderick af tei
that by Llao Turlull : Began reverses tUem — wrungly as I bellevQ^
Ciup. fll. STRONGBOW 201
forced to return ; and with a lieav^y heart his marched
towards Watertoid.
Here he was met by Mountraaurice with a message
from King Henry, summoning him to his presence. St>
Strongbow, hastily crossing the sea, presented himself
before the monarch, whom he found with a large army
preparing to invade Ireland. And after much difficulty
and delay he made his peace, transferring all his posses-
sions to the king. 'Jb him as vassal the king regranted
Leinster, but reserved Dublin and a few other maritime
towns. So vanished for ever Strongbow's dream of tbiind-
ing an independent kingdom in Ireland.
CHAPTER IV
KING HENRY IN IRELAND
Henry sailed from Milford with a fleet of 400 large ships
carrying 4,000 men-at-arms and 400 knights with horses
and arms, accompanied by Strongbow, Hugh de Lacy,
William Fitz Adelm de Burgo, and many others of his
barons. On the 18th October, 1171, he landed at Crook,
below Waterford. Proceeding to Waterford, he was met
there by Dermot Mac Carthy king of Desmond, who was
the first Irish prince to submit and pay tribute. While
the king was here a number of the men of Wexford came
to him bringing Fitzstephen in fetters, saying that they
had arrested him, and now delivered him up, because he
had dared to make war on them without the royal license,
and had in this and in other ways been guilty of perfidy
towards the king. They probably dreaded his anger on
account of their treatment of Fitzstephen, and they made
this hypocritical pretence to pass the matter off". The
king's action was as hypocritical as theirs. He pretended
to be very angry with Fitzstephen, loudly rated him, and
Bent him back to Waterford chained to another prisoner,
with orders that he should be imprisoned in Reginald's
lower. But after a few days, ' being touched with compas-
202 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Taut III.
sion for a brave man who had been so often exposed to such
great perils, he heartily forgave and pardoned him at the
intercession of some persons of rauk about his court, and
restored him to his former state and liberty.' ' The whole
proceeding was a piece of acting on the part of the king,
to give the Irish to understand that he had come to protect
them from the rapacity of his barons.
Henry next marched leisurely by Lismore to Cashel,
where he received the submission of Donall O'Brien 6f
Limerick and of many others of the southern princes.
After this he returned to Waterford ; and having taken
possession of Wexford, he proceeded to Dublin, where he
was received in great state. Here he was visited and
acknowledged by the other Irish princes, all except the
Ard-ri Roderick O'Connor, and the chiefs of Ulster.
O'Connor however came as far as the Shannon to meet De
Lacy and Fitz Adelm de Burgo, through whom he sent his
submission ; but O'Neill of Tyrone held aloof, and never
submitted in any shape or form.
The king on his part received graciously those that
came to meet him, and confirmed them in possession of
their several tenitories. From first to last there was no
attempt at resistance, for the Irish chiefs saw that it was
hopeless to contend with an army so well disciplined and
equipped. King Henry spent the Christmas in Dublin,
and celebrated the festival in a very sumptuous manner.
The Irish princes and nobles were invited ; and they were
astonished at the magnificence of the display, and much
pleased with the attention shown to themselves.
During his stay he made arrangements for the govern-
ment of the count(y in accordance with the feudal model
of England. Neither did he forget the affairs of the
church. It will be remembered that the main object he
pretended to have at heart in the invasion of Ireland was
the good of religion. To carry out this object, or to keep
up the appearance of carrying it out, he caused a synod of
the archbishops and bishops of Ireland and several Anglo-
Norman ecclesiastics to be held at Cashel early in the
' GIrald. Caiabr. Book I. chap. xxxi.
CirAP. IV. KING HENRY IN IRELAND 263
ensuing year, 1172, in which certain decrees were drawn
up for the regulation of church discipline.'
Henry now rewarded his barons by grants of large
tracts of country, giving away the lands belonging to the
natives without the least scruple. It may be said that he
gave the whole of Ireland to ten of his nobles, leaving theui
to take possession of their several portions whenever they
were able to conquer them. Leinster was granted to
Strongbow with the exception of Dublin and some other
maritime towns ; Meath— then much larger than now — to
Hugh de Lacy ; and Ulster to John de Courcy.^
The king appointed, from among his followers, governors
of all the principal towns that had submitted to him, with
orders to build castles ; and he granted Dublin to the
people of Bristol with De Lacy as governor, who is generally
regarded as the first viceroy of Ireland.' Having com-
pleted these arrangements, he embarked at Wexford in
\pril, and returned to England, leaving Ireland in charge
of his subordinates.
During his short stay of six months he acted with a
skilful mixture of prudence and dissimulation. In order
to disarm resistance he treated the Irish princes and chiefs
with kindness, and led them to believe that he wished to
protect them from the rapacity of the barons. It would
have been better for the natives had he remained longer.
While he was present the country was quiet ; and no doubt
he would have kept it so. For although he gave away
lands that did not belong to him, the general body of the
people would no doubt have remained undisturl)ed. He
would have established some settled form of government,
would have held his barons in check, and would probably
have won over the Irish to a general acknowledgment of
' The general scope of these decrees has been already noticed at
p. 247. They may be seen in full in Giraldus, Book i. chap, xxxiv.
* Harris's Ware, ii. p. 190.
' The governors of Ireland, at this time and for centuries after, were
desijjnaied by various titles, such as viceroy, lieutenant, lord lieutenant,
loid justice or justiciary, governor, &c. A person af>pointed lo govern
temporarily in place of an absent lord lieutenant or viceroy was desijr-
nated deputy or lord deputy. A list of all the governors down to 1745
"^y be teen in Harris's Ware, vol. ii. chap. xv.
2^4 TllE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pa -it III.
his authority. As it was he took no serious steps to main-
tain the authority he assumed over the country. He huilt
no castles and planted no garrisons. ' neither left he behiad
him,' says Sir John Davies, ' one true subject more than
those he found there at his coming over, which were only
the English adventurers.' After his departure his arrange-
ments were all disregarded; and his followers did just as
they pleased, plundering and harassing the unfortunate
natives without mercy and without restraint. The natives
naturally resisted and the invaders retaliated, so that the
country was soon filled with tumult and bloodshed.
The turmoil began the moment the king had left.
Ternan O'Ruarc, Dermot's old adversaiy, disputed the
grant of his territory of Meath to De Lacy ; and they
agreed to hold a conference to settle the dispute on the
ancient Tlachtga, now the Hill of Ward, near Athboy in
Meath. But it appears obvious from Giraldus's account
that the meeting was a mere treacherous trap for O'Ruarc ;
and the Four Masters state so directly. De Lacy's fol-
lowers came fully armed, prepared for fight ; a quarrel was
provoked ; O'Ruarc was killed in the fray ; and his fol-
lowers fled. His head was soon after spiked over one of
the gates of Dublin, while the body was hung, feet upwards,
at the north side of the city — the first of those ghastly ex-
hibitions which subseCjUently became so common in Ire-
land ; and after some tim-^ the head was sent to England
as a present to King Henry.
Strongbow now proceeded to subjugate those portions
of Leinster granted to him by the king, and, making Kil-
dare his head-quarters, he sent to O'Dempsey chief of
Offaly to demand submission and hostages, which the chief
refused. Whereupon with an army of 1,000 men he
devastated Offaly ; but on his return laden with plunder,
O'Dempsey fell on his rear in a narrow pass, slew a number
of his men — among them the earl's son-in-law De Quenci,
the standard bearer and constable of Leinster — routed the
marauding party, and captured the banner. Before Strong-
bow could take steps to avenge this defeat he was sum-
moned to England by the king. But he had been only a
Chap. IV. KINQ HENLY IN lEELAND 2G5
short time there when reports of the disturbed state of Ire-
land came to hand ; whereupon Henry, early in the follow-
ing year, 1173, sent him back again as viceroy.
CHAPTER V
BAYMOND LE GR03
No sooner had Strongbow entered on his new duties as
viceroy than troubles began to thicken round him. He
found most of the Irish princes, notwithstanding their
submission, already in revolt against the king and himself;
and there was disunion among his own people. His uncle
Hervey Mountmaurice, commanded the army, under whom
Raymond, a far abler soldier, served as lieutenant ; and
between these two a bitter rivalry had grown up. The
soldiers hated Mountmaurice, who was a man more
inclined to peace than to war ; while Raymond was their
idol, for he was a brave and dashing leader, and in all his
expeditions gave them full license to plunder. The money
the earl had brought with him did not last long, and at
length he had no pay for his soldiers. So they, having now
ueither pay nor plunder, presented themselves in a body
before him to demand that Raymond should be placed at
their head, threatening if this were not done to return to
England or joiir^the Irish. And Strongbow forced by
necessity, appointed Raymond to the chief command.
The very first use Raymond made of his authority was
to lead his men on one of his plundering raids. He ravaged
Offaly; and from that he marched south to Lismore,
which he plundered, both town and district. Loading a
number of boats with part of the spoils near the mouth of
the Blackwater, he sent them on towards Waterford, while
he and his army set out in the same direction along the
coast, driving before them 4,000 cows. The boats were
attacked by a small fleet of Irish and Dano-Irish from
Cork, and the land army was intercepted near Lismore by
13ermot Mac Carthy prince of Desmond — he who had sub-
united to the king two yeare before. Both attacks were
266 TUE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part IH.
repulsed ; and Raymond and his companions made their
way with all the plunder to Waterford.
Raymond now growing more ambitious with continued
success, solicited in marriage Strongbow's sister Basilea, to
whom he was much attached ; and he asked also to be
made constable or commander of Leinster. But the earl
refused both requests ; whereupon Raymond threw up his
post, in 1174, and returned to Wales; and Mountmaurice
was restored to the chief command.
Acting on Mountmaurice's advice, Strongbow now led
an expedition, composed of his own men and the Ostmen
or Danes of Dublin, against Donall O'Brien king of
Thomond, who had long since renounced his fealty to the
English. But on their march southward they were
attacked at ThUrles by O'Brien and King Roderick — these
two having meantime become reconciled — with the united
armies of Munster and Connaught, and utterly defeat^il
with the loss of a great part of the army — 1,700 men
according to the Four Masters. And Strongbow, having
escaped from the battlefield, fled southwards with a small
hand of the survivors, and full of grief and rage, shut him-
self up in Waterford.
As soon as news of this victory had got spread abroad,
the Irish rose up in arms everywhere ; and the earl was
besieged in Waterford, so that he was in daily fear for his
life. In this strait he was forced to send for Raymond,
offering now all he had before refused. Raymond accord-
ingly returned with a band of archers, rescued the earl
from his perilous position, and conducted him safely to
Wexford. Here he was married to Basilea, and at the
same time the earl made him standard bearer and constable
of Leinster.
In the midst of the festivities tidings came that Roderick
had entered Meath, had expelled the English settlers and
destroyed their fortresses, and was now almost at the walls
of Dublin (1 1 75). Without a day's delay Raymond marched
northward ; but on his arrival at Dublin he found no
enemy to contend with : for Roderick, instead of following
up his success by capturing Dublin, had allowed his army,
o-^
Chup.T. RAYMOND LE GHOS 2C7
aft-er the first wild raid on Meatli, to dirperse and return
to their homes. And now Raymond made preparation to
avenge on Donall O'Brien the defeat of Thurles. He led
his troops to Limerick ; and in the face of enormous diffi-
culties he forded the deep and rapid river, stormed the
city, and gave it up to slaughter and plunder. Then,
leaving a sufficient garrison under the command of Miles
de Cogan, he returned to Leinster.
Meanwhile Roderick, finding that he could not prevent
the daily incursions of English raiders, and despairing of
being able to hold his own province, determined to claim
the protection of King Henry. Accordingly he sent three
ambassadors to England, and a treaty was arranged in 1175
between the two kings. Under this treaty, which was signed
at Windsor, it was agreed that Roderick was to remain king:
of Connaught, which he was to hold directly as vassal to
Henry ; that he was to rule the rest of Ireland also as
vassal ; and that through him the other kings and chiefs
of the country were to pay tribute to King Henry.*
Raymond having settled his quarrel with Earl Richard,
was now exposed to another and greater danger ; for his
enemy Hervey Mountmaurice, of whom Giraldus gives a
very bad and probably prejudiced account, keeping a
close watch on him, sent messengers from time to time to
the king with several accusations, representing that Ray-
mond secretly aimed at making himself king of Ireland.
The king distrusted and feared the barons in Ireland,
and Raymond perhaps most of all as being the ablest ; so
in 1176 he sent hither four commissioners, with a com-
mand to conduct him to England ; two of whom returned
soon after. At this very time, even while Raymond was
preparing to obey the king's command, news came that
Donall O'Brien had laid siege to Limerick. And when
Strongbow ordered out the army for its relief, the men
refused point blank to march except under their favourite
general. From this difficulty there was only one escape ;
and Strongbow and the commissioners were forced to
yield. Raymond was replaced in command and marched
* Huveden, 1175. See also Harris's Ware, ii.67.
2G8 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pa^t IIL
away in triamph at the head of his men. On his wny
bouth the princes of Ossory and Hy Kinsella with a large
body of troops joined him to guide him to Limerick and
aid hira against their countrymen. When O'Brien heard
of Raymond's approach, he marched from Limerick with
his whole force and intercepted the advancing army on
Easter-eve in a pass near Cashel (1175). But after hard
fi.i2[hting the Thomond men were repulsed with great loss ;
O'Brien submitted ; and Raymond proceeded to Limerick.
Having arranged matters, he went to Desmond to
settle a dispute between Dermot Mac Carthy and his son.
One day while he was here a courier arrived post haste from
Dublin with an odd message from his wife Basilea : — ' Be
it known to your sincere love that the great jaw-tooth
which used to trouble me so much has fallen out. Where-
fore if you have any regard for me, or even for yourself,
return with all speed,' ' She took this enigmatical way
of telling him that her brother the earl was dead (1176).
Knowing well the dangeroQs position of the colony in
Dublin, and fearing the Irish might rise if they knew
of his death, she determined to keep the matter secret till
Raymond should be present. Raymond at once divined
the meaning, for he had been aware of Strongbow's ill-
ness, and he returned hastily to Limerick. Having no
one of note among his followers who would undertake the
command in his absence, he made a virtue of necessity
and entrusted the city to the keeping of its old master
Donall OBrien ; after which he set out for Dublin. But
Hcarcely had the last of his men filedacross the river when the
bridge was broken down and the city set on fire by O'Brien.
On Raymond's arrival in Dublin the earl was buried in
Christchurch Cathedral ; and the funeral obsequies were
conducted with great porap and solemnity by the arch-
bishop Laurence O'Toole. After this the two remaining
commissioners, seeing that this event required new plans,
embarked for England, leaving Raymond as governor till
the king's pleasure should be known. It would appear
that King Henry had not got rid of his jealousy of the
* Girald. Canibr. Book ii. chap. ziv. : Bohn's traasl.
CnAP.V, RAYMOND LE GROS 2G9
brilliant soldier Raymond le Gros : for as soon as he was
made aware of Strongbow's death he appointed William
Fitz Adelm de Burgo viceroy (1176), with John de Courcy,
Robert Fitzstephen, and Miles de Cogan to assist him. Aa
Boon as Raymond heard of their arrival he set out from
Dublin with a body of troops and met them near Wexford,
and having given them a most respectful reception, he
delivered up all his authority to the new viceroy without a
murmur. A circumstance occurred during this ceremonial,
as recorded by Giraldus, that showed the jealousy of De
Burgo towards the Geraldines, and foreshadowed the long
and deadly feuds of the Anglo-Irish barons among them-
selves. De Burgo, seeing a number of young men, Ray-
mond's retinue, in gallant trim, engaged in martial exercises,
with shields all emblazoned with the Geraldine arms, said
in a low voice to his friends : — * I will put an end to all
this parade ; these shields shall soon be scattered.' And
Giraldus goes on to say that from that hour De Burgo and
all the other governors envied the Geraldines and took
every opportunity to injure them.' But we must remem-
ber that there is animus in everything Giraldus writes
about the enemies of the Geraldines.
After this we hear little more of Raymond le Gros in
public life. He retired to his estates in Wexford, where he
resided quietly till his death, which took place in 1182.
Among the numerous families that descended from
these great Anglo-Norman lords, there were three that
subsequently rose to great eminence and played an im-
portant part in the history of Ireland : the Fitzgeralds oi
Geraldines, the Butlers, and the De Burgos or Burkes.
The Geraldines were chiefly descended from Maurice
Fitzgerald. One branch of them settled in and around
Kildare, and their chiefs were first created barons of
Ofialy, afterwards earls of Kildare, and finally, dukes of
Leinster. The other chief branch had granted to them
large tracts in Munster soon after the advent'of the Anglo-
Normans, and the heads were created earls of Desmond.
* Conquest of Ireland, Cook ii. chap. zr.
270 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION PartIIL
Aud there were several minor branches, such as the knight
of Glin, the knight of Kerry, the seneschal of Imo-
killy, &c.
The founder of the Butler family was Theobald Gaultier
or Walter, who settled in Ireland in the time of Henry IT.
He received extensive tracts in Leinster, '^ith the heredi-
tary office of Boteler or Butler to the king of England,
which imposed the duty of attending the king at coronation,
and presenting him with the first cup of wine after the
ceremony. For these offices the family enjoyed certain
dues of plate and wine. After a time they adopted the
family name of Butler instead of Fiftzwalter. The heads of
the family were first created earls and afterwards dukes of
Ormond.
The family of De Burgo, De Burgh, or Burke, was
founded by William Fitz Adelm de Burgo. They settled
in Connaught, and ultimately separated into two main
branches, the heads of whom became earls of Mayo and earls
of Clanrickard respectively, as related farther on in
Chapter XII.
CHAPTER VI
JOHN DE COURCY
[Chief authorities: — Girald. Cambr. ; Four Masters, and other Irish
Annals ; Ware's Annals ; Stanyhnrst ; Hanmer's Chronicle.]
GiRALDUS Cambrensis gives US a very bad character of
William de Burgo, the new viceroy : that he was crafty,
treacherous, selfish, and avaricious. But Cambrensis, who
was a Geraldine, is quite unworthy of credit in cases of
this kind ; for he hated De Burgo as De Burgo hated all
the Geraldine race. One thing is certain, however : the
new governor was from the first disliked by the English
colonists in Ireland. For he wished for peace, and dis-
couraged outrage on the natives ; whereas war was what
the colonists most desired, as it brought them plunder and
8'are increase of territory. Whether De Bur^o chose peace
because it enabled him the better to enrich himself by
Chap. VI. JOHN DE COURCY 271
gcjtting bribes from the Irish, as Giraldus says, or because
of a better motive, it is now hard to determine.
In the very first year of his viceroyalty (11 76) a serious
disaster befel the English in Meath. Richard Fleming,
one of De Lacy's followers, had built for himself a castle
at Slane, from which he constantly sent out marauding
parties to plunder the surrounding districts. The Irish,
provoked at last beyond endurance, marched to Slane,
under the leadership of Mac Loghlin, chief of the Kinel-
Owen, stoi'i5»d the castle, and in their cruel rage massacred
all the men, women, and children, with Fleming himself,
so that not a living being escaped. The Annals of Ulster
say tkat 100 men were killed ; the Four Masters 500,
which seems unlikely. This created such panic among
the English of those parts that they abandoned three other
castles — those of Kells, Galtrim, and Derrypatrick — and
lied to a place of safety.'
Among all De Burgo's followers not one was so dis-
contented as Sir John de Courcy. He was a man of
gigantic size and strength — brave and daring ; and he
now resolved to remain no longer inactive, but to attempt
the conquest of Ulster, which King Henry II. had granted
to him five years before. So gathering round him a small
band of knights and archers — to the number of about 320
according to Giraldus, '^ all picked men, and as discon-
tented with forced idleness and abstention from plunder as
De Courcy himself, he set out from Dublin for the north.
There were at this time certain prophecies current
among both the Irish and the Welsh, some of which were
believed to have been uttered by the Irish saint Columkille,
and others by the Welsh wizard and prophet Merlin. It
was foretold that Ulster should be conquered by a fugitive
and pauper knight from another country, a white knight
mounted on a white steed, bearing birds upon his shield :
and the carnage was to be so great that the invaders were
to wade up to their knees in blood. De Courcy believed,
or pretended to believe, that he was the destined knight ;
' Four Masters, A.D. 117fi.
* He had probably 1,000 or more, counting attendants : see note, p. 2ij5.
272 THE PEIllOD OF THE INVASION Part IIL
nnd he kept by him continually a book of St. Columkille'a
Prophecies, though, as they were written in Irish, he could
not read a word of them. It so happened, partly by
accident, and partly no doubt by design, that in several
striking particulars he resembled the prophesied knight : —
he was a pauper adventurer from beyond the sea, for he
had no fortune except what he could win by his sword ;
he was of a fair complexion ; he rode a white steed ; and
he had figures of birds — the heraldic bearing of his family
— painted on his shield.
Whatever may be thought of De Courcy's sincerity, it
would appear that both parties, Irish and Welsh, recog-
nised him as the knight described in the prophecies,
which, doubtless, more or less damped the spirits of the
Ulstermen in resisting him. For the Prophecies of St.
Columkille, though mere forgeries written long after the
saint's death, were then, and for ages subsequently, very
generally known and believed in Ireland.
Passing northwards with all speed, he arrived on the
morning of the fourth day — the 2nd of February 1177 —
at Downpatrick, then the capital of the sub-kingdom of
Ulidia. So rapid had been his march that the towns-
people knew nothing of it till they were startled in the
early morning by the martial sounds of bugles and the
clattf^ring of cavalry in the streets. The freebooters were
half-starved as they entered the town ; and now they fell
upon everything they could lay hands on — they ate and
drank, plundered, killed, and destroyed, till half the town
was iu ruins.
It happened that at this very time Cardinal Vivian,
the Pope's legate, was in Downpatrick, and was witness of
the whole proceedings. He tried to induce De Courcy to
withdraw to his own territories, promising, at the same
time, that Mac Dunlevy, the prince of Ulidia, would pay
tribute, in accordance with the treaty of Windsor (p. 267) ;
but De Courcy rejected the proposal. Whereupon the
cardinal, indignant at the outrage on an unoffending
people, exhorted the Ulidians to fight for their fatherland,
and expel the strangers. At the end of a week, Mao
CHAP.VL JOHN DE COURCY 273
Dunlevy. who had made his escape on the first appearance
of the invaders — having no means of opposing them —
returned with a large undisciplined army, and advanced
on the town. De Courcy, nothing daunted, went out to
meet thein, and chose a favourable position to receive the
attack. The Irish rushed on with tumultuous bravery,
but they were not able to break the disciplined ranks of
the enemy ; and after a furious fight they were repulsed
with great loss, and chased over the country.
In this battle it was believed that a portion of St.
Columkille's prophecy was fulfilled ; for the victors, pur-
suing the Irish along the shore, sank to their knees in the
sand, already wet with the blood of the wounded fugitives.
After this victory, De Courcy erected a fortress at Down-
patrick, in which he entrenched himself ; and his army
was continually recruited, by other adventurers from Dublin.
Notwithstanding this defeat and the discouragement
caused by the prophecies, the Ulidians continued to ofier
the most determined resistance. The valiant De Courcy
battled bravely through all his diflBculties, and three several
times in this same year, 1177, he defeated in battle the
people of the surrounding districts. But as time went on
he met with many reverses, and he had quite enpugh to
do to hold his ground. In the following year, 1178, he
went on a plundering raid into Louth, and was returning
with a great prey of cows, when he was attacked in his
encampment in the valley of the Newry river by the
armies of Oriell and Ulidia, and routed with the loss of
450 of his men. Soon after this — in the same year — he
made an incursion into Dalaradia, when he was intercepted
and defeated by the Dalaradian chief Cumee O'Flynn. He
escaped from this battlefield with only eleven companions ;
and having lost their horses, they fled on foot for two days
and two nights, closely pursued, without food or sleep,
till they reached a place of safety. But in several other
battles he was victorious, so that as years went by he
strengthened his position in Ulster ; and as opporttinities
offered he built many castles in suitable situations. When
Prince John was recalled from Ireland in 1185 (p. 280), De
T
274 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part ni
Courcy was appointed viceroy, and took up his residence in
Dublin. Some time after this he was created earl of Ulster,
During his viceroyalty he determined to attempt the
ccmquest of Connaught, which was then torn and weakened
by internal strife (Chap. VIII.). Collecting all the Ens^lisli
forces at his command, he crossed the Shannon in 1188,
and began to burn and waste after his usual fashion. But
before he had advanced far into the province he was con-
fronted by the two kings of Connaught and Thomond—
Conor Mainmoy and Donall O'Brien — with their united
armies. Not venturing to give battle to this formidable
force, he retreated northwards, his only anxiety now being
to save himself and his army from destruction. But wher
he had arrived at Ballysadare on the coast of Sligo, he
found himself in wprse plight than before ; for the news o1
the filibustering expedition had spread quickly, and now
his scouts brought word that Flaherty O'Muldory prince
of Tirconnell was at Drumcliff, a little way north,
marching down on him in front, while his pursuers were
pressing on close behind. Setting fire to Ballysadare, he
fled south-east ; but as he was crossing the Curlieu Hills
he was overtaken by Conor Mainmoy and O'Brien, who fell
upon him and killed a great number of his men ; and it
was with much difficulty he escaped with the remilatit oi
his army into Leinster.
When De Courcy was removed from the governorship
of Ireland in 1189 to make way for his rival Hugh de
Lacy (p. 282), he retired to TJlster, greatly offended,
Here he resumed his wild raids, burning, ravaging, and
plundering, like the Danes of old, and like them ofbeD
suffering disastrous defeats. And he lived as an inde-
pendent prince, building castles and founding churches all
over Ulster, making war and peace as he pleased, and
acknowledging no authority. He even coined silver money
in his own name.^ His influence in North-east Ulstei
was greatly strengthened by his marriage with Affreca
daughter of Godred, the Norse king of Man and of the
Western Isles.
* Gilbert, Vlceroyi of Ireland, p. CO.
Chap. VI. *" JOHN DE COUECY 275
In 1196 he marched north-west till he came to the
Bann ; and he built a castle at Mount Sandal, on a high
bank over the v^xsr, a little above Coleraine, which he left
in command of an officer named Russell. This Russell,
issuing daily from his fastness, devastated all the district ;
till venturing too far west, he was intercepted by Flaherty
O'Muldory, at Faughanvale on the shore of Lough Foyle,
and defeated with great loss. Soon afterwards O'Muldory
died ; and De Courcy, apparently taking advantage of this,
crossed the Foyle westward to invade Tirconnell. Being
opposed by O'Doherty, the newly elected chief, he defeated
and slew him, together with 200 of his men ; after which
he plundered Innishowen and carried oflF vast spoils.
Next year (1198) he again marched west from Down-
patrick, plundering and burning churches and homesteads
as he went along, and encamped at Derry, then a mere
village, where he remained nine days devastating all
Innishowen. When O'Neill prince of Tyrone heard of this,
he sailed to the coast of Antrim and attacked the English
settlement there by way of reprisal, prudently avoiding a
direct encounter with De Courcy. Whereupon the Eng-
lish of those parts mustered their forces and intercepted
him ; but O'Neill defeated them ; and afterwards, during
their hasty flight, he routed them five several times before
they reached their ships. As soon as intelligence of this
reverse reached De Courcy, he hastily left Derry and made
his way back to Downpatrick, probably dreading an attack
on his head-quarters in his absence.
Two years later (1200) he was tempted to try his
fortune a second time in Connaught ; but with no bel^ter
result than before. He and Hugh de Lacy were both
induced by Cahal Crovderg to come to his assistance in the
struggle for the throne. But the rival king, Cahal Car-
rach, caught the allies in an ambuscade in a wood near
Kilniacdnagh in Galway, and inflicted on them a crushinsj
defeat, slaying more than half of .the English army. De
Courcy had a narrow escape here, being felled from his
horse by a stone. Recovering, however, he fled from the
battlefield northwards till he reached Rindown Castle on
T 2
276 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part nl.
the western shore of Lough Ree, where he proceeded to
convey his army in boats across the lake. He had been a
week engaged at this, when, on the very last day, Cahal
Carrach pounced down on those that still remained at
Rindown and killed and drowned great numbers of them ;
while De Courcy and the rest, being safe at the far side,
made good their escape.
The chequered career of this extraordinary man ended
in ruin and disgrace. There was a bitter feud between
him and the De Lacys ; and Hugh de Lacy (the younger)
took every means to poison King John's mind against him.
We are told, too, that De Courcy let fall some imprudent
expressions against the king, which, being reported,
tended further to draw the royal vengeance on him. He
was proclaimed a rebel and a traitor ; and De Lacy, now
lord justice, was commissioned to arrest him. After
several unsuccessful attempts he was at length betrayed
by some of his own servants, who led De Lacy's men to
his retreat at Downpatrick, where he was taken (1204).
Some records relate that his enemies came down on him
on Good Friday, when he was barefoot and unarmed, doing
penance in the cathedral of Downpatrick, and that he
snatched the nearest weapon — a great wooden cross staijd-
ing on a grave — with which he dashed out the brains of
thirteen of his assailants before he was overpowered.
It would appear from a somewhat obscure entry in the
L'ish Annals under 1204, that on his arrival in England he
was forced to go to Palestine on a crusade. After this we
lose sight of him ; for though there are plenty of legends
handed down by English writers, we do not find him
mentioned subsequently in any authentic historical records.
Some peerage compilations of the 18th century, of doubtful
authority, make him the father of Miles de Courcy whom
Henry III. created baron of Kinsale, and whose de-
scendants for many generations claimed the strange pri-
vilege of wearing their hats in presence of the king.
After his departure from Ireland, the earldom of Ulster
was conferred on Hugh de Lacy the younger.
Chap. VIL HUGH DE LACY: PRINCE JOHN 277
CHAPTER Vn
HUGH DE LACY (THE ELDER) : PRINCE JOHN
In the second year of De Burgo's viceroy alty (117/') there
was an invasion of Connaught by the English, which was
disgraceful to the Irish prince that instigated it, and
equally so to the English; for it must be remembered that
Roderick O'Conor had Connaught secured to him only two
years before by the treaty of Windsor (p. 267). Roderick's
son Murrogh, having some quarrel with his father, induced
Miles de Cogan to head an expedition into the province ;
and Morrogh himself was their guide. But the Connaught
people, having notice of their approach, retreated to the
mountains with their cattle, burned some churches and all
the houses, and destroyed whatever provisions they could
not bring away or hide. The English advanced by Ros-
common to Tuam, destroying everything — houses, churches,
and farmsteads — but soon began to suffer from want of pro-
visions ; and hearing that Roderick was coming down on
them with his army, they fled precipitately towards the
Shannon, But they were overtaken at the ford of Ath-
league at Lanesborough before they had time to cross,
where a great number of them were killed, and the rest
escaped with difficulty. The traitor Murrogh was captured
by the Connaughtmen, who with the consent of his father
put out his eyes.'
William de Burgo became at last so unpopular with
the colonists that King Henry removed him from the vice-
royalty (1178), and appointed Hugh de Lacy in his place,
with Robert le Poer to assist him. At the same time the
king made a grant of South Munster to Miles de Cogan
and Robert Fitzstephen, and another of North Munster
to Philip de Braose; and he appointed Robert le Poer
' Four Masters and Ann. of Innisfall, AU. 1177. Giraldns (II. xvii.)
gives an improbable accoant of tliis expedition and its results.
278 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part IIL
cons<^able of Waterford and Wexford. De Gogan and Fitz-
stephen proceeded to Cork, where they were well received ;
and they made an allotment between them of their new
territory. They then marched towards Thomond with De
Braose and a large party, to help him to take possession of
his district. But when they approached Limerick they
saw the city in flames ; for the citizens had set fire to it
rather than let strangers take possession of it. Where-
upon De Braose was so intimidated that, in spite of the
expostulation of his friends, he at once returned to Cork
and left the country for the time.
Soon after De Lacy's appointment he married (in 1180)
a daughter of King Roderick O'Conor. This marriage
greatly increased his power and influence among the Irish,
insomuch that it excited the jealousy and suspicion of the
king, who in consequence dismissed him from his office.
But De Lacy yielded up his authority with such prompt
obedience that the suspicions of his royal master were for
a time allayed, and after three months he was reinstated
(in 1181). During the whole time of his administration
he busied himself with great energy in building castles at
points of vantage, not only in his own princlpility of Meath,
but all over Leinster; of which the ruiiisj^f many remain
to this day. L^
The country still continued to be v^^»much disturbed
by the raids of the colonists, by the reprisals of the Irish,
and by the mutual quarrels of all. King Henry, rightly
believing that it required only a strong hand to put an
end to these destructive turmoils, determined at last to
send his son Prince John to govern the country, hoping
that his presence would restore tranquillity. In order to
prepare for his reception, the king, in 1184, sent over John
Comyn, an Englishman, who had been appointed archbishop
of Dublin on the death of St. Laurence O'Toole. And
being still jealous of De Lacy and suspicious of his inten-
tions, he removed him once more from the viceroyalty and
appointed Philip of Worcester in his place. This man is
described as a brave soldier and very liberal ; yet one of
his first acts was a raid on Armagh during Lent, when he
Chap.VIL HUGH DE LACY: miNCE JOHN 279
extorted an immense sum of money from the clergy, while
his soldiers plundered from them all they could lay hands
on. Prince John, then nineteen years of age, sailed
from Milford and landed at Waterford on the Wednesday
after Easter with a splendid retinue and a large bodj» of
cavalry. He had for his adviser Ralph Glanville, a great
lawyer, chief justice of England ; and his secretary and
tutor was a Welsh priest named Gerald Barry, now better
known as Giraldus Cambrensis, or Gerald of Wales.
Though the prince had eight years before been created
king of Ireland by his father, he did not now assume that
title, but designated himself lord of Ireland and earl of
Moreton.
King Henry's expectations of his son's government
were doomed to early disappointment. The prince soon
raised the whole country in revolt by his silly and vicious
conduct. He turned even the colonists against him ; for
he and the worthless young fops by whom he was sur-
rounded looked down on the brave rough barons, and
took every occasion to show their contempt for them.
Then, even at that early time, began that fatal policy of
favouring the ' new English ' and slighting the old, which
brought heartburnings and jealousies and countless evils
for centuries afterwards. Giraldus was sharp enough to
see this: — 'As the veteran soldiers by whose enterprise
the way into the island was opened were treated with sus-
picion and neglect, and our counsels [i.e. the counsels of
Prince John and his court} were communicated only to
the new comers, who only were trusted and thought worthy
of honour, it came to pass that as the veterans kept aloof,
and rendered no assistance to those who did not ask for it,
the others [i.e. the new comers] had little success in all
their undertakings.' ' The Irish chiefs crowded to the
prince in Waterford, both to pay hina respect and to
acknowledge him as their lord ; but his insolent young
associates — close-shaven dandies — ridiculed their dress and
manners, and insulted them by plucking their beards, which
they wore long, according to the custom of the country.
* Conquest of Irelcmd, IL xxxv. : Bohn's transL
f
280 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt UT.
Incensed by this treatment, the proud Irish nobles
withdrew to their homes, brooding mischief. Sending
their women and children to the west for safety, the
several septs combined for a general attack on the English
settlements ; while John continued his miserable career
unmindful of the ominous signs gathering everywhere
around him. He had built castles in Lismore, Ardfinnan,
and Tibberaghney, from which parties continually issued
to plunder the surrounding districts. But suddenly the
storm-cloud burst ; the settlements were attacked at all
points ; and the most active of the assailants was the valiant
Donall O'Brien of Thomond. A great number of the
strongholds were taken, and many of the bravest of the
Anglo-Norman chiefs were slain. The colonists were
driven to take refuge in the towns ; and almost the whole
of John's splendid army perished in the various conflicts.
When the country had been for some time in this state
of turmoil, King Henry heard how matters stood, and at
once recalled the prince after a stay of about eight months,
appointing De Courcy viceroy, in 1185. The prince, both
before and after his return, threw the whole blame of the
disturbances on De Lacy, who, he said, exasperated by
his dismissal from the viceroyalty, instigated the Irish to
revolt ; and he accused him moreover of seeking to make
himself king of Ireland. This was probably true ; for
he had settled in Meath a great number of powerful barons
and leaders, all of whom built strong castles, and^were
completely at his command; and from them descended
some of the chief Anglo-Norman families of Ireland.
De Lacy never lived to clear himself. He had de-
molished the venerable monastery of Durrow — St. Co-
lumba's chief establishment in Ireland, the fame of which
even yet survives in the exquisite Book of Durrow (p. 105) ;
and he had erected a castle on the site. When the
building was nearly finished he came one day to inspect
the works, attended by only three soldiers, when a young
Irishman named O'Meyey suddenly drew forth a battle-
axe which he had concealed under his cloak, and smote ofiT
the great baron's head with a single blow, so that body
Chap. "VII. HUGH DE LACY : PRINCE JOHN j 281
and head both fell into the trench (1186). Instantly taking
flight, he escaped from his pursuers through the neighbour-
ing wood of Kilclare, and never halted till he reached the
house of his foster father, O'Cahamy or Fox, chief of
the district, to announce the news. It is believed that
this deed was instigated by O'Caharny to avenge the
seizure of his lands by De Lacy, as welf as the desecration
of St. Columkille's sanctuary.
Thus fell the greatest of the Anglo-Norman barons.
He was not' the greatest warrior ; but he was more far-
seeing — more of a statesman — than any of his contempo-
rary barons. He seems to have been well disposed towards
the natives, and we have seen how he married the
daughter of the Irish king Roderick. It is probable that
if he had got his own way, he would — once they had sub-
mitted— have given them fair play, and would have pro-
tected them from violence and spoliation.
CHAPTER VIII
CAHAL OF THE RED HAND KING OF CONNAUGHT
Ever since the treaty of Windsor (p. 267) King Roderick
confined himself chiefly fo his own kingdom of Con-
naught, making little or no pretensions to the sovereignty
of Ireland. But he was not permitted to possess even
that in peace; for in 1179 King Henry, in open violation
of the treaty, granted Connaught, with the city of Lime-
rick, to William de Burgo (Fitz Adelm) and his heirs. It
does not appear that De Burgo made any attempt to
depose or expel the old king — no doubt for lack of
power — though he took possession of some Coimanght
territory.
But King Roderick's worst troublesKiarae from another
quarter ; for his latter years, like those of his great con-
temporary, Henry II., were embittered by the misconduct
of his sons. Wearied with care, both public and domestic,
he retired for a time (in 1183) to the monastery of Cong,
282 ' THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part IH.
leaving his son Conor Mainmoy to govern in his place.
But when, two years later, he returned, his son refused to
reinstate him : and an unnatural aud destructive war
ensued, the end of which was that Conor Mainmoy banished
his father into Munster, in 1186, and retained the sove-
reignty. He was however a brave and active king ; and
we have seen (p. 274) how in 1188, in conjunction with
Donall O'Brien, he defeated De Courcy. After a short
reign he was assassinated in 1189 at the instigation of
his own brother ; and Connaught was once more plunged
into civil strife.
King Henry died in the year 1189 and was succeeded
by his son Richard the Lion Hearted. Richard took no
interest in Ireland, and left the whole management of its
affairs to his brother John, who, in 1189, appointed Hugh
de Lacy (son of the great De Lacy) lord justice, in place of
John de Courcy. De Lacy held office till 1191, when the
viceroyalty was conferred on William Earl Marshal of
England and Seneschal of Leinster, who retained it till
1194. Marshal married Isabel, the only child of Strong-
bow and Eva ; and through her, as the daughter of Strong-
bow and granddaughter of Dermot Mao Murrogh, he
inherited vast territories both in England and Ireland,
including nearly the whole of Leinster. William Marshal
and Isabel had five sons and five daughters : the five sons
died without issue ; and the whole of Leinster was divided
among the five daughters, all of whom married English
noblemen.
On the death of Conor Mainmoy his father Roderick
made a feeble attempt to regain his throne ; but he soon
laid down his arms in despair, and again retired to the
monastery, while two stronger claimants contended : —
Cahal Carrach son of 'Conor Mainmoy, and Cahal Crovderg
(of the Red Hand) Roderick's youngest brother, one of
the most able and valiant chiefs of that period. After a
short struggle Cahal Crovderg triumphed for the time, and
in 1190 became king of Connaught.
Some stirring events took place in the south about this
period. The English of Leinster set out in 1192 with a
Chap.viil cahal of tue red hand 283
large force on an expedition into Munster, and, making
leisurely march, erected on their way the castles of Knock-
graffon and Kilfeakle in Tipperary. But Donall OBrien
prince of Thomond intercepted them at Thurles and de-
feated them with great loss. To avenge this they crossed
the Shannon at Killaloe, intending to ravage Thomond :
. but they had scarcely arrived on the farther bank when
they were unexpectedly attacked by O'Brien, who drove
them back after slaying great numbers. This brave king
died two years later (1194); and his death delivered the
Anglo-Normans from the most active and formidable
opponent they had yet encountered.
In 1198 the old King Roderick ended his troubled
career in peace and penitence in the monastery of Cong.
That he was king of Ireland when the invaders came was
the crowning misfortune of the country. Had he pos-
sessed even moderate foresight and strength of character he
would have crushed the invasion at its insignificant begin-
ning, before it had time to grow formidable. But he had
neither the judgment to realise the gravity of the situation
nor the ability to grapple with seriou^ difficulties when
they arose. Nevertheless, while we despise him for his
feebleness and indecision, it is impossible not to feel a
degree of pity for him in his misfortunes as the last repre-
sentative of independent Irish monarchy.
Cahal of the Red Hand held the throne of Connaught
for eight or nine years undisturbed, and appears to have
been very active ; for we read in the Four Masters that in
1195, with some English and Irish allies, he made an
incursion into Munster as far as Emly, and destroyed four
large castles belonging to the English, and several small
ones. In 1199, however, Cahal Carragh, instigated by
William de Burgo, whose interest it was that the Irish
princes should be at strife, reasserted his claim to Con-
naught, and brought De Burgo and the English of Lime-
rick to his aid : and Connauofht was again all ablaze with
civil war. Cahal Crovderg was defeated and fled north to
Hugh O'Neill prince of Tyrone and to John de Courcy :
wid the victors committed frightful outrages over a large
284 THE PERKH) OF xIHE* INVASION Pakt IIL
part of the province — sparing neither church nor home-
stead, neither priest nor layman. Twice again he at-
tempted to regain the throne, aided on the first occasion
by O'Neill, and on the second (in 1200) by the redoubt-
able John de Courcy and by Hugh de Lacy as already
related (p. 275) ; but in the resulting battles he and his
auxiliaries were utterly defeated by his rival.
Cahal Crovderg, in no way cowed by these terrible
reverses, again took the field, aided this time by the
cunning De Burgo, who had now changed sides ; and he
encamped with a large force at Roscommon. Cahal
Carracb, nothing daunted, attacked him, but was killed
in an obscure skirmish (1201) ; and Cahal Crovderg once
more took possession of the throne.
Now that the war was ended, Cahal and De Burgo
directed their men to go among the people of Connaught
and levy their pay by coyne and livery : after which they
both proceeded to Cong. While the English were thus
dispersed, a false report went round that William de
Burgo was dead: whereupon the people rose up simul-
taneously, and each householder murdered his own guest.
The Four Masters (under 1201), in their brief notice of
this event, say that De Burgo intended foul play towards
Cahal, and that accordingly the Connacians attacked his
men and slew 700 of them : but the annalists of Lough
Key (under 1202) tell the horrible story in detail, and do
not attempt to hide the people's treachery — a striking
testimony to their fairness. They add that 900 or tuore
were killed. There is no reason to believe that Cahal had
any hand in this foul business. A few years later (1204)
De Burgo died, after playing a very important part in
this great invasion.
From this period forward Cahal ruled without a native
rival. With all his power, however, he saw that he could
not, unaided, preserve his dominions from the greedy and
powerful English barons who had settled on his borders.
Accordingly, in 1206, in order to secure even a portion,
he surrendered two parts of the province, and agreed to
hold the remaining third from the king, for which he was
)
Chap.VTIL CAHAL of THE RED HAND^ 285
to pay 100 marks yearly. And he presented himself to
John on the occasion of that king's visit to Ireland in
1210 (next chapter) and made formal submission to him.
Yet in the face of these treaties the king (in 1215)
granted the whole of Connaught to William de Burgo, as
it had formerly been granted to his father Fitz Adelm.
And in 1218 this grant was confirmed by Henry III. to
Richard de Burgo, but with a proviso that it should not
take effect till the death of Cahal.
Cahal defended his territories with great spirit against
the illegal encroachments of the barons. Thus when in
1220 the De Lacys of Meath went to Athleague on the
Shannon, and began to build a castle on the eastern bank
to serve as a key to Connaught, he promptly crossed the
river into Longford, and so frightened them that they
were glad to conclude a truce with him ; and he demolished
the castle, which they had almost finished.
Cahal seems to have remained faithful to his engage-
ments with the English monarchs, notwithstanding their
breaches of trust with him. For in 1221, when De Lacy
landed in Ireland in open rebellion against Henry III.
(p. 289 infra), Cahal joined Earl Marshal against him, and
wrote to the king to warn him, complaining in his letter
how hard he found it to maintain his position against the
king's enemies — De Lacy and others.
Cahal of the Ked Hand was an upright and powerful
king, and governed with firmness and justice. The
Annals record of him that he relieved the poor as long as
he lived, and that he destroyed more robbers and rebels
and evil-doers of every kind than any other king of his
time. In early life he had founded the abbey of Knock-
moy, into which he retired in the last year of his life ;
and in this quiet retreat he died in the habit of a Cistercian
monk in 1224,
286 THE PEEIOD OF THE INVASION Paut III.
CHAPTER IX
KING JOHN IN IRELAND
King Richard died in 1199 and was succeeded by his
brother John. The new king appointed as governor Meiler
Fitz Henry, who had come over as a youth with the first
Anglo-Normans : he was lord justice during the first four
years of John's reign.
The years immediately following the death of Donall
O'Brien (in 1194) present a weary record of strife and
turmoil. The Irish chiefs were encouraged in their
dissensions by the English nobles — though indeed they
needed but small encouragement ; and while they con-
tinued to enfeeble each other, their watchful enemies
gradually extended their possessions and tightened their
grasp on the country. These English nobles also quar-
relled among themselves ; and their broils caused quite as
much devastation and misery as those of the Irish chiefs.
Hugh de Lacy became governor as lord justice in 1203 in
succession to Fitz Henry. This did not mend matters^
for his tyranny in exacting taxes for King John caused
great exasperation and several downright rebellions. In
1208 a battle was fought at Thurles between the colonists
on the one side, aided by the natives, and the lord justice
on the other, in which a great number of the royal troops
were killed.
Even Dublin, the centre of government, felt the effects
of the general state of lawlessness. The reader will recol-
lect that Henry II. granted this city to the citizens of
Bristol in 1172 (p. 263). The dispossessed people took
refuge among their kindred, the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles of
Wicklow, brooding over their wrongs and biding the time
for vengeance. The settlers were in the habit of resorting
for amusement on holidays to a place a little south of the
city, then and still called Cullenswood. While they were
so engaged on Eastier Monday, 1209, a party of the O'Byrnea
Chap. IX KING JOHN IN IRELAND * 287
and OTooles, who had been lying in amhush, suddenly
fell on them and killed 300 of them.* In memory of this
event Easter Monday was for generations afterwards called
by the name of Black Monday ; and the place, which is
now being built over, is to this day called the Bloody
Fields. It ought to be remarked that the authorities for
this story are exclusively English : it is not mentioned at
all in the Irish annals, so that we have no opportunity of
hearing the other side.
King John was kept well informed of the disturbed
state of the country. What seems to have troubled him
most, so far as Ireland was concerned, was that some of
the great nobles, and notoriously William de Braose and
Hugh de Lacy, had followed in the footsteps of De Courcy,
throwing off all authority and making themselves to all
intents and purposes independent princes.^ With the ob-
ject of reducing these turbulent barons to submission and
of restoring quiet, and probably also in order to forget for
a time the troubles ^is own tyranny and misgovemment
had brought on his head in England, the king— at this
time under excommunication — resolved to visit Ireland.
He landed at Crook, near Waterford, in the month of June,
1210, with a formidable army. The mere presence of such
a force was enough to awe the restless chiefs, Irish and
English ; and from the very day of his landing the whole
country became tranquil. The two De Lacys — Hugh and
his brother Walter— fled to France. De Braose also made
his escape, but his wife and son fell into the king's hands,
and having been brought to England were, aiter some
time, starved to death in prison by the tyrant's order.
A romantic story is told of the adventures of the De
Lacys. They were reduced to destitution in Fi-ance, and
had at last to earn their bread by working as garden
labourers for two or three years in the abbey of St. Taurin.
The abbot, thinking he saw in them something above the
common, at last questioned them, and gradually drew from
laem a confession of their name and rank, and the whole
story of their misfortunes. He appealed on their behalf
• Sanmer'g Chronicle, ed. 1809, p. 370
288 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt IIL
to King John, who restored them to their estates (about
1213) on the payment of fines, Hugh 4,000 marks for the
earldom of Ulster, and Walter 2,500 marks for Meath.
The story adds that they brought the abbot's nephew with
them to Ireland, and, having made him a knight, be-
stowed on him the lordship of Dingle.
The king proceeded to Dublin, and from thence to
lileath, where Cahal Crovderg, who at this time ruled his
Connaught kingdom in peace (p. 285), visited him and
* came mto his house,' as the Four Masters express it —
that is, made formal submission. John received him
kindly and made him a present of a splendid charger,
which Cahal — first removing the saddle— mounted, and
with his retinue accompanied the king for a long distance.
Many other Irish kings and chiefs came also and sub-
mitted ; but these submissions were, as Sir John Davies
says, ' a mere mockery and imposture,' made under com-
pulsion, and quite disregarded from the moment the king's
back was turned.
As John had no fighting to do, he employed himself
more usefully in making arrangements for the better
government of the country. Those parts of Ireland which
were under English jurisdiction he parcelled out into
twelve shires or counties : namely, Dublin, Kildare, Meath,
Uriel (or Louth), Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford,
Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary. He directed that
in all these counties the English 'laws should be adminis-
tered, and for this purpose he erected courts of justice and
appointed sheriffs and other officers. But it must be
always borne in mind that all these arrangements, in-
cluding the administration of the law, were for the settleis
only, not for the natives, who were then and long after-
wards outside the pale of the law.
The king returned to England in August 1210, leaving
John de Grey lord justice, to whom he committed the
task of carrying out his arrangements. During the re-
mainder of his reign Ireland was comparatively quiet.,
and no events occurred necessary to notice here.
Chap. X. A CENTURY OF TURMOIL 289
CHAPTER X
A CENTURY OF TURMOIL
[Chief aathorities for Chaps. X.'and XI. : Msh Annals ; Clyn's Annals ;
Histories of Ireland by Mac Geoghegan, Cox, and L^and ; Ware'
Annals; Gilbert's Viceroys; Hanmer's Chronicle; Davies's Dis-
coverie ; Carew Papers ; Bichey's Short History.]
King John was succeeded, in 1216, by his son Henry III.,
who was then a boy of nine years old.
The century that elapsed from the death of John to the
invasion of Edward Bruce was a period of strife and
bloodshed, from which scarce any part of the country was
free, a period of woe and misery for the common people.
There was as usual no strong central government, and the
whole nation was abandoned to anarchy. It is necessary
to relate the most important events of this period, so as to
make a connected narrative, and in order that the reader
may have some idea of the hard ordeal of suffering the
country had to pass through.
We have seen that, according to the tradition, Hugh de
Lacy, three or four years after his expulsion by King John
in 1210, was permitted to return at the instance of the
abbot of St. Taurin. Whatever truth may be in this tra-
dition, we find that he was abroad in 1219 watching his
opportunity, when William Marshal the great earl of Pem-
broke— the husband of Eva's daughter — died, leaving his
titles and estates to his son William Marshal the younger.
De Lacy seeing his powerful antagonist gone, determined
on an attempt to regain his lost earldom, and the Irish
annalists record that in 1221 he landed in Ulster in de-
fiance of the wishes of the king, and in open rebellion. He
enlisted Hugh O'Neill of Tyrone on his side ; and they in-
vaded Ulster, Leinster, and Meath, demolished the castle
of Coleraine, and committed terrible ravages all over the
three territories. The young Earl WilliMn Marshal, a man
of energy and foresight, having been appointed lord justice,
u
290 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt IIL
at once crossed over — in 1224 — to oppose De Lacy ; and
he was aided by most of the other English leaders, as well
as by some native chiefs, among them Cahal Crovderg, who
had good reasons for hostile feelings towards the De
Locys.
The contest that followed, in which public as well as
.private interests were enlisted, and which continued till
the whole of Meath was wasted, attained almost the mag-
nitude of a civil war : it is indeed sometimes designated as
fche War of Meath. At last when both parties were
wearied out they made peace ; a peace in which the De
Lacys and O'Neill acknowledged no error and gave no
hostages ; and obtained very much their own terms.
Let us now turn to the west. We have seen how
Henry III., in violation of treaties with Cahal Crovderg,
granted Connaught to Richard de Burgo. But the
O'Conors clung to their territory, so that De Burgo found
it no easy matter to dislodge them ; and when Cabal died
(in 1224) his son Hugh assumed the government.
Whereupon the English king directed William Marshal
the lord justice to seize on the province and deliver it up to
De Burgo. At the same time the two sons of the old King
Roderick claimed the throne, in opposition to both De
Burgo and their cousin Hugh ; and among these several
claimants the ill-fated province was plunged into a long
and desolating civil war.
Marshal appears to have made no immediate attempt to
execute the king's order. Adopting a more astute course,
he remained with his army at Athlone, on the border of
the province, to watch the course of events, leaving the
Irish to fight it out among themselves, and taking a part
only when asked to do so.
The sons of Roderick, aided by O'Neill of the north,
were at first successful, and one of them was actually in-
augurated king. But no sooner had O'Neill returned
home, than Hugh applied to Marshal, who gladly marched
to his assistance from Athlone. The new king and his
brother, being now forced to fly, were pursued by Hugrh
and his English allies, who ravaged the country mercilessly
Cha». X. A CENTURY OF TUBMOIL 291
as they went along. The annalists, when recording this
terrible and cruel raid (1225), mention a pathetic incident,
which gives us a vivid insight into the miseries suffered hj.
the poor people. A frightened crowd of peasants — men,
women, and children — fleeing northwards from the pursuing
army, perished by scores on the way. In their headlong
flight they attempted to cross the wide and deep river
flowing from Bellacong Lake in Mayo, half-way between
Ballina and Foxford, where great numbers were drowned;
and next day the baskets of the fishing weirs were found
full of the bodies of little children that had been swept
down by the stream.
This state of horror lasted in Connanght for many
years ; and the struggles among the several claimants
of the O'Conor family went on unceasingly: battles,
skirmishes, and raids without number. The Bnglish,
under Marshal, De Burgo, or others, were mixed up iii
most of these contests, now siding with one of the parties,
now with another, but always keeping an eye to their own
interests. And thus the havoc and ruin went on un-
checked. Meantime the wretched hunted people had no
leisure to attend to their tillage; famine and pestilence
followed; and the inhabitants of whole towns and dis-
tricts were swept away.
At length Felim the brother of Hugh — for Hugh had
been killed in a private broil — established himself, in
1249, by sheer force of energy and bravery, on the throne
of Connaught, in spite of all enemies both English and
Irish, and reigned without interruption till his death in
1265.
We have sketched the War of Meath : there was also a
War of Kildare, which resulted in the destruction of one of
the noblest of the Anglo-Irish earls by the villainous
treachery of one man, and of those he induced to join with
him in the conspiracy. William Marshal the younger died
in 1231, while still a young man, leaving all his titles and
estates to his brother Richard, a handsome, valiant, and
uoble-minded knight. This young man, like most spirited
l^nglishmen of the time, very properly resented the king's-
292 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt lit
foolish preference for Frenchmen; whereupon the king
banished him from the kingdom : most ungratefully, for
he owed his crown to the young earl's father. Richard
now entered into alliance with Llewellyn prince of Wales,
and made open war on King Henry, who thereupon con-
fiscated all his vast estates. Geofi&ey Marisco now induced
the lord justice Maurice Fitzgerald, Hugh de Lacy, and
Richard de Burgo to enter into a base conspiracy for the
rain of Marshal, hoping to share his estates among them.
He began by forging letters purporting to be from the
king, ordering the Irish vassals to arrest Earl Richard for
treason if he should appear among them. Having accom-
plished this, he put on the guise of friendship, and induced
the young nobleman to come to Ireland to defend his
estates against De Lacy and De Burgo ; and when it was
agreed to hold a conference of the hostile parties on the
Curragh of Kildcu^, he persuaded him to insist on such
terms as he knew De Lacy and the others would reject.
At this conference (1234) a quarrel was provoked;
and when they prepared to fight, all Earl Richard's men,
having been previously bribed, left him, with the exception
of fifteen faithful knights. The treacherous De Marisco
too, professing all along to be on his side, abandoned him
at the last moment ; and then for the first time it flashed
upon him that he was betrayed. Seeing his young brother
Walter, who was a mere boy, following him into the fray,
he sent him back with an attendant to a place of safety ;
and then he and his fifteen companions dashed in among
their enemies. The chief conspirators, fearing to encounter
Marshal, had withdrawn to shelter and left the fighting to
their mercenaries. Richard, who was a man of great
strength, and renowned as a swordsman, did terrible execu-
tion. With one blow he lopped off the two hands of a
gigantic Irishman who had stretched out his arms to seize
him : and he cleft the body of another mercenary from
head to waist. The unequal struggle went on for six
hours — 15 against 140 — bat it could have only one
termination. They brought the noble knight to his feet
at last by disabling his horse ; and then while he was en-
Chav. X. A CENTURY OF TURMOIL. | 298
i
gaged with his enemies in front one of the rascals plunged
a dagger into his back through a joint of the armour, and
he was overpowered. This ended the fight. He waa
taken to the castle of Kilkenny, where he would have re-
covered by his native strength of constitution ; hut the
doctor who attended him — bribed like the others — wilfully
killed him with the severity of his treatment. Greoffrey
Marisco met some punishment. He was banished by the
indignant king, to whom the whole villainous plot had been
revealed, and died in exile ; and his son who had espoused
his cause, having been captured, was executed by being
torn in pieces between horses.
Except the small territory conquered by De Courcy,
Ulster had up to the present preserved its independ-
ence. But here also dissension opened the way for the
invader. Maurice Fitzgerald, second baron of Offaly,
one of the conspirators in the war of Kildare, who h«id
been twice lord justice, and who had on a former occasion
temporarily reduced both O'Neill and O'Bonn^ll, now
resolved to bring Ulster completely under English rule.
He marched with his army northwards through Connaught
in 1257 ; but was intercepted by Godfrey O'Donnell chief
of Tirconnell, at a place called Credran-Kill at the Rosses
near Sligo town, where a furious battle was fought. The
two leaders, Fitzgerald and O'Donnell, met in single
combat and wounded each other severely; the English
were routed aud driven out of Lower (or North) Con-
naught ; and Fitzgerald retired to the Franciscan monastery
of Youghal, where he died the same year, probably of his
wounds.
As for O'Donnell, he had himself conveyed to an island
m Lough Veagh in Donegal, where he lay in bed for a
whole year sinking daily under his wounds ; and all thia
time the Tirconnellians had no chief to lead them.
There had been for some time before much dissension
between this O'Donnell and Brian O'Neill the neighbour-
ing prince of Tyrone ; and now O'Neill, taking advantage
of hii opponent's helplessness, instead of greeting him as
he ought, after his victory over Fitzgerald, gathered aa
294 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pact III.
army, and .marclimg towards Tirconnell, sent to demand
submission and tribute. O'Donnell, as soon as he had
received this message, ordered a hasty muster of his
people ; and summoning the chiefs to his bedside, he told
them of O'Neill's demand, and of his determination to
resist it ; and as he was not able to march with them —
expecting death daily — he directed them to make him a
bier, on which they were to carry him at the head of his
people to meet O'Neill (1258).
On they*marched till they met the men of Tyrone face
to face at the river Swilly ; and while the bier supporting
the dying chief was raised aloft in full view of the Kinel
Connell, the two armies attacked each other. After a long
and fierce struggle the Tyrone men were routed and fled,
leaving many of their men dead on the battlefield. Then
the victors set out on their homeward journey ; but had
proceeded only as far as Letterkenny when they had to
lay down the bier, and the heroic chief died. And the
same bier from which he had witnessed his last victory
was now made use of to bear him to his grave.
In this year (1258) some of the Irish chiefs, including
Teige O'Brien of Thomond, made a feeble attempt to unite
against the common enemy ; and they chose Brian O'Neill
of Tyrone as their leader. But this confederacy was of
short duration ; for two years later, in 1 260, in a bloody battle
fought at Downpatrick against the English of the north of
Ireland, O'Neill was defeated and slain, together with a
large number of the chiefs of Ulster and Connaught.
The south had its own share of disturbance, and here
the English were less fortunate. The Mac Carthys of
Desmond, seeing their ancient principality continually
encroached upon by the Geraldines, became exasperated ;
and led by their chief Fineen or Florence, attacked them in
the year 1 26 1 at Callan near Kenmare ; where the Geraldines
were defeated and a great number slain, including several
of their chiefs. The Irish followed up this victory by
demolishing the English castles over a great part of Des-
mond ; and for a dozen years, as we are told, no Geraldine
durst put a plough in the ground. But the Irish began
Chap. X. A CENTURY OF TURMOIL 295
Boon again to quarrel among themselves, and the Geral-
dines gradually recovered all they had lost.
There was almost as much strife among the English
themselves as there was between Irish and English. The
two great families of Fitzgerald and De Burgo had a bitter
dispute, which began in 1 264, about some lands in Con-
naught, so that they filled the whole kingdom with war and
tumult. At last the king intervened, and wrote, m 1265,
commanding peace. Two years later David Barry the lord
justice ended the dispute by depriving the Fitzgeralds of
all their Connaught lands ; and he forced the parties to
make peace ; which was however of no long duration.
But the country got no rest; for the Irish rose up
and burned and spoiled the English settlements every-
where. In Connaught there was a dispute between Walter
de Burgo earl of Ulster and the Connaught king Hugh
O'Conor the son of Felim (p. 291), so that they proceeded
to open war. The earl accompanied by the lord justice,
who now became alarmed at the general rising of the
Irish, crossed the Shannon and invaded Connaught in
1270 ; but he was defeated in battle by Hugh, who slew
nine of his principal knights and a great number of men.
These wars were followed as usual by great famine and
pestilence.
While this universal strife was raging in Ireland,
Henry III. died, and was succeeded by Edward I. (1272).
The manner in which the natives were despoiled of
their lands at this period and for many a generation after-
wards, is well exemplified in the proceedings of Thomas de
Clare son of the earl of Gloucester ; and the story shows
how the native chiefs facilitated the work of conquest by
their own miserable dissensions. This nobleman had been
granted a large tract of land in Clare, a part of Thomond.
It happened at this time (1277) that there were two
native competitors for the principality of Thomond, Brian
Roe O'Brien and Turlogh O'Brien, who wore at open war
with each other ; and De Clare instantly turned their
quarrel to his own advantage. He first took the part of
Brian Roe and helped him to defeat his opponent ; after
296 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Past III.
which he entered into solemn bonds of friendship with
him.
But soon afterwards he took the other side ; and having
inveigled Brian Koe into his power, he treacherously
seized him and had him torn asunder by horses.' Then .
he took possession of all the district east of the river
Fergus, distributed the land among his followers, and
built two strong' castles at Clare and Bunratty. The
sons of the murdered prince however rose up against De
Clare, and defeating him in several engagements, drove
himself and his father-in-law — Maurice Fitz Maurice
P'itzgerald— to take refuge in the solitudes of the Slieve
Bloom mountains. Here they were reduced to such want
that they subsisted for a time on horseflesh. They had
to yield themselves prisoners at last, and were treated by
the Irish with more clemency than they had a right to
expect: they were set at liberty on engaging to give
satisfaction for O'Brien's death, and to surrender the castle
of Roscommon.
After the English settlement in 1172 there were two
distinct codes of law in force in Ireland — the English and
the Brehon. A man might live safely enough under either ;
but it was very unsafe and dangerous for an Irishman to
live under both. Yet this was the position of a large
proportion of the native Irish, viz., of all those who in any
way came in contact with the colonists. The English law
did not apply to them. An Irishman who was in any manner
injured by an Englishman had no redress. He could not
seek the protection of English law ; and if he had recourse
to the Brehon law, the Englishman need not submit, and
would naturally repudiate it. An Englishman might even
murder an Irishman with impunity, for Irishmen ' were so
farre out of the protection of the Lawe, as it was often
adjudged no fellony to kill a meere Irishman in the time
of peace.' ^ Accordingly we find that when Robert de
Waleys was put on Ms trial in Waterford in 1310 for the
murder of John Macgillemory, he admitted the murder,
■ Ann. Fovr Masters, and Ann. Clonmaenoite, 1277.
• Davies, JJisooverie, ed. 1747, p. 102.
Chap. X. A CENTURY OF TUEMOIL 297
but pleaded that it was no felony, inasmuch as Macgille-
mory was a mere Irishman : and the plea was admitted in
court, so that he was let off without any punishment.*
But an Irishman who injured an Englishman came at once
under English law : and if Macgillemory had murdered
De Waleys he would have been hanged for it.
.Yet t^ie Brehon law was often made use of by the
English, but almost always perverted for their own pur-
poses. We have seen (p. 78) how the old Irish custom of
coiney was abused in the form of coyne and livery. But
there was something much worse than this. We know
that under the Brehon law, if a man were in debt and
absconded his family had to pay (p. 53). This law was
turned to use against the natives in a most convenient
way : in a manner indeed that would hardly be credited if
we had not the Act of Parliament before us. ' a.d. 1476,
16 Edward IV. In a parliament held at Dublin, the
following act was passed : — If any person of Irish name,
not sufficient or amenable to the common law, commit any
offence to any of the king's subjects, it shall be lawful to
him [the person injured] and his aiders to arrest and
take such Irish persons as shall be sufficient, being of the
nation of him which committed the offence, and to retain
them with their goods and chattels until they and the
remnant of the same nation make amends according to the
discretion of the governor and council.' ^ This means that
if an Irishman were indebted in any manner to a colonist
and was unable to pay or absconded, the colonist might
arrest any Irishman he pleased, or any number of Irish-
men, and seize their goods, till the debt was paid.
Although it was no felony to kill a native, yet we
must not judge of this state of things more severely than
It deserves. It was not so much a positive law as the
absence of law ; and when the government placed the
colonists under English law and took no cognizance of the
Irish people, we must not suppose the authorities made
the omission with any direct intention that Englishmen
' Gilbert, Account of Facsimiles of NcA. MSS. cf Ireland, p. ICl.
Carew Papers, 1515-157^, p. 320.
298 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt in.
should have unlimited license to kill or rob or injure Irish-
men : probably they never thought of the consequences at
all. And when an attempt was made to bring an English-
man to justice for murdering or maltreating an Irishman,
he was let off, not because the judges had any sympathy
with him or his evil deed, but simply because they had no
power to tiy the case : it was not within their jurisdiction.
At the same time we must not let ourselves be carried
too far on the other side by these mitigating considerations.
There was something more than mere negation or neglect
in the act of 1476 quoted above : and we know that the
attention of the government was more than once directed
— and directed in vain — to the need of legal protection
for the native Irish. It was no wonder that under the
circumstances the Irish should wish t6 have the protection
of the law ; and accordingly many individuals and families,
from the time of Henry II, to the accession of James I.,
obtained from the government, by purchase or for some
other reason, what were called 'charters of denization,'
which gave them the benefit of English law — which pro-
tected them from injury on the part of any colonist, and
enabled them to sue a colonist the same as if they them-
selves -were colonists : ' but this was always granted as an
act of special favour. And there were five Irish families
who for some reason, not now known, had from an early
time the benefit of English law : — * By this record it ap-
peareth that five principal blouds or septs of the Irishry
were by special grace enfranchised and enabled to take
benefit of the lawes of England : namely, O'Neill of
Ulster ; O'Melaghlin of Meath ; O'Conor of Connaught ;
O'Brien of Thomond ; and Mac Murrough of Leinster,' '
But perhaps the most discreditable record of all is this.
On two well-known occasions, the first in the reign of
king Edward I., and the second in that of Edward III.,
the general body of the Irish petitioned the king that
an act might be passed to make all the Irish subject to the
• Carew Paper$, 1515-1574, p. 320; Gilbert, Aoat. qf Nat. MSS,
pp. 101-2-3 ; Davies, DUfoverie, ed. 1747, p. 105.
* Davies, JJiscoverie, ed. 1747, p. 104 ; Harris's Ware, ii. 88.
Chap. X. A CENTURY OP TURMOIL 299
English law. These two great kings would have been glad
to connply with the prayer of their Irish subjects ; but it
did not suit the selfish purposes of the Anglo-Irish barons,
who *■ persuaded the king of England that it was unfit to
communicate the Lawes of England unto them; that it
was best poUicie to holde them as Aliens and Enemies and
to persecute them with continuall warre .... wherefore
I must stil cleare and acquit the Crown and State of
England of negligence or ill pollicie, and lay the fault
uppon the Pride, Covetousnesse, and ill Counsell of the
English planted heer, which in all former ages have been
the chiefe impediments of the final Conquest of Ireland.' •
Elsewhere in the same essay Davies writes : — ' This
then I note as a great defect in the civill policy of this
Kingdom, that the English la\*es were not com-
municated to the Irish, nor the benefit and protection
thereof allowed unto them, though they earnestly desired
and sought the same.' ^ This measure ' would have pre-
vented the calamities of ages, and was obviously calculated
for the pacification and effectual improvement of their
coantry. But it would have circumscribed their [the
barons'] rapacious views and controlled their violence and
oppression.' * The barons accordingly opposed it on various
pretences, and the two petitions came to nothing,*
The Irish, totally unprotected as they were, and heartily
sick of turmoil, would have been only too glad to live under
English law and be at peace with their English neighbours;
for then, as now, they would cheerfully submit to the law
if they believed it to be just : — ' For there is no nation of
people under the sunne that doth love equall and indifferent
(i.e. impartial) justice better then the Irish ; or will rest
better satisfied with the execution thereof, although it bee
against themselves ; so as they may have the protection and
benefit of the law, when uppon just cause they do aesire it.' *
' Davies, Disooverie, pp. H."), 146. • Jbid. p. 118.
* Leiand, Hist, of Ireland, i. 245.
* Ibid i. 243, 289. See also Carem Papert, 1603-1624, p. 165; and
Kicheys S/ioH History of the Jri»h People, pp. 176, 177.
* This is the concluding sentence of Davies' thoughtful and valuable
essay, A Ditcoverie <^ the I'rue Cause$, Sfe.
800 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Past UL
The war and turmoil continued without intermission
till the end of this reign. Neither did the accession of
the new king, Edward II. (1307), bring any improvement ;
for Ireland was left to work out its own miserable destiny ;
and under the circumstances change of kings was a matter
of scarcely any consequence to the Irish people. .
CHAPTER XI
EDWARD BRUCE.
About the time of the beginning of Bruce's invasion, the
Irish princes under the leadership of Donall O'Neill king
of Ulster wrote a dignified remonstrance, in the form of a
letter to Pope John XXII., which is a most interesting and
important document.'
, After glancing at the early history of Ireland, and
drawing attention to the zeal for religion of its clergy and
people, they say that Pope Adrian IV., an Englishman,
moved by false representations,, unjustly transferred the*
sovereignty of Ireland to Henry II., the instigator of the
murder of Thomas k Becket. They show that Henry and
his successors had violated the conditions of the bull, and
instead of reforming the Irish, had plundered the church
and perverted the papal grant to their own selfish pur-
poses. They complain that they are not protected by law :
that an Englishman may prosecute an Irishman in any
action, but that an Irishman cannot prosecute an English-
man ; that if an Englishman kill an Irishman there is no
way to prosecute, and no penalty on the murderer ; that an
Irishwoman who marries an Englishman is, on her hus-
band's death, deprived of one-third of her property ; that
if an Englishman compass the death of an Irishman by
violence, he can seize all the Irishman's property; and
that Irishmen are excluded from monastic institutions
governed by Englishmen ; with many other grievances.
' The original Latin is in Fordun's ClMronicle, and in O'Sallivan's
Hist. Cath. Nib. ed. 1850, p. 70. There is a translation of the most im-
portant portions in Mac Geoghegan's history uf Irtlwad, p. 323.
Chap. XL EDWAUD BRUCE 301
They then go on to say that they have resolved to defend
their lives and liberties by force of arms ; and they inform
his Holiness that they have invited Edward Bruce, the
descendant of their own ancient kings, to come to their aid.
The Pope did not reply directly to this remonstrance ;
but he did what perhaps was better ; he sent the document
to King Edward II., with a letter earnestly recommending
that he should take all these matters into consideration
and redress the grievances of the Irish. He complains
that neither Henry nor his successors paid any regard to
the object of Adrian's bull ; but that on the contrary they
heaped upon the Irish unieard-of miseries and persecu-
tions, and imposed on them a yoke of slavery which could
not be borne.
Immediately after this, the Pope, probably through Eng-
lish influence, issued instructions to the Irish archbishops to
excommunicate all those Irish who should take up arms to
help Edward Bruce, or who should aid him in any way,
openly or secretly, by furnishing counsel, arms, horses, or
money. It was enjoined that all such persons were to be
shunned as under the ban of the church ; and the sentence
of excommunication was to be read aloud by the clergy on
Sundays and holidays, with candles lighted and bells
tolling.*
The preceding hundred years I have designated a
century of turmoil ; but it was peace itself compared with
the three and a half years of Bruce's expedition to Ireland.
The Irish people, especially those of the north,
viewed with great interest and sympathy the struggles of
their kindred in Scotland for independence ; and Robert
Bruce's glorious victory at Bannockbum filled them with
joy and hope. Soon after the battle, the native chiefs of
Ulster, headed by Donall O'Neill prince of Tyrone, with
the De Lacys and with the Bissets who then owned Glen-
arm and Rathlin, despatched deputies praying Bruce to
send his brother Edward to be king over them. He
eagerly accepted the invitation ; and on the 25th of May,
lbl5, Edward Bruce, accompanied by many of the Scottish
• Gilbert, Viceroys, p. 137 ; Leland, L 276.
302 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Paut IIL
nobles, landed at Lame with an army of 6,000 of the best
soldiers of Scotland. He was immediately joined by
Donall O'Neill, and by numbers of the northern Irish ;
and the combined forces overran a great part of Ulster,
destroying everything belonging to the English that came
in their way, and defeating them in several battles.
Moving southwards, they stormed and burned Dundalk
and Ardee ; and at this latter place they set fire to the
church in which a number of people had taken refuge and
burned them all to death.
From first to last the campaign was carried on with
great cruelty, and with reckless waste of life and property.
All food, except what was needed for the use of the army,
was destroyed, though there was a famine and the people
were starving all over the country. The Bruces were
humane, high-minded men. It is related that on one occa-
sion during the hurried march from Limerick to Ulster
described further on (p. 306), a poor washerwoman was
taken with the pains of childbirth ; and Robert Bruce, at a
time when every hour was a matter of life and death to
him, halted the whole army till the woman was fit for
travel. Let us not, then, heap more blame on them than
they deserve for the barbarous conduct of the campaign.
It was the custom of the time ; if indeed that can be accepted
as a palliation of inhumanity. Wallace did much the same
in England, and the English often enough in Scotland.
But it would be satisfactory to have to record a different
jvnd more merciful line of action on the part of the Bruces.
The two leading Anglo-Irish noblemen at this time were
Richard de Burgo the Red Earl of Ulster, and Sir Edmund
Butler the lord justice. The Red Earl was lord of the two
provinces of Connaught and Ulster, the earldom of Ulster
having come to his father by marriage with the daughter
and heiress of De Lacy ; and he was by far the most
powerful nobleman in Ireland : even the lord justice was
of small account in comparison with him. He raised a
large army, chiefly in Connaught, and set out in quest of
the invaders. His march north through the Irish districts
was perhaps more savagely destructive than that of
Chap. XL EDWARD BRUCE - 808
Bruce, if indeed that were possible. No doubt he con-
sidered that all the Irish were in sympathy with Bruce,
which was not the case. On his way he met Sir Edmund
Butler with a Leinster army, bound also for the north ;
but he haughtily rejected the lord justice's aid, asserting
he was himself quite a match for Bruce. He found the
Scottish army posted near Ardee in Louth, and there was
some skirmishing; but Bruce, acting on the advice of
O'Neill, retraced his steps northwards, followed by De
Burgo, and took up a position on the Bann. ^
Among the Red Earl's adherents was Felim CConor,
the young king of Connaught, with a large contingent of
native Irish. But having received some secret messages
from Bruce, O'Conor became desirous to withdraw ; and
as be heard at the same time that one of his kinsmen
had taken advantage of his absence to revolt and proclaim
himself king, he returned to Connaught to suppress the
rebellion.
^J'he Red Earl, finding himself weakened by this defec-
tion, retreated eastwards, but was overtaken by Bruce at
the V'llage of Connor near Ballymena ; where after a furious
contest he was utterly defeated, losing a great part of his
army. His brother William and several English knights
were taken prisoners, and he himself fled back crestfallen
to Connaught, with the broken remnants of his forces. A
body of the English fled eastwards to Carrickfergus and
took possession of the castle, which they gallantly deluded
for months against the Scots. Soon after the battle Bruce
hadhimself proclaimed king of Ireland and formally crowned.
Towards the end of the year he received some rein-
forcements from Scotland, and having vainly endeavoured
to take Carrickfergus Castle, he left a small party to carry
on the siege and marched into Meath. At Kells he
routed an army of 15,000 men under Sir Roger Mortimer,
who had come over from England to defend his Irish
lands. The De Lacys, who had been in the English army,
stood by and took no part in the fight, and soon afterwards
they openly joined the Scots. After the battle the victo-
rious general proceeded with his army to Lough Sewdy,
804 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part HL
now called Lough Sunderlin, in Westmeath, where he
halted and spent the Christmas. At the opening of the
new year (1316) he marched to Kildare ; and beside the
great moat of ArdscuU near Athy, he defeated the lord
justice, Sir Edmund Butler, who lost a great number of
his best men.
Bruce had now been successful everywhere ; and the
native Irish rose up in many parts of the country. Among
the insurgents were the O'Tooles and the O'Byrnes of
Wicklow, and the O'Moores of Leix ; but they were all
promptly crushed, and with great loss, by the lord justice.
The harvest had been a bad one, and scarcity and want
prevailed all over the country. Nevertheless the Scottish
army, wherever they went, continued to ravage and destroy
all they could not consume or bring away, multiplying ten-
fold the miseries of the people, both English and Irish.
Their proceedings reacted on themselves at last, for Bruce
was forced by want of provisions to retire to Ulster, where
for a time he held court and discharged all the functions
of a king.
Felira O'Conor, having crushed in blood the revolt in
Connaught, now declared for the Scots ; and being joined
by the chiefs of Connaught and by O'Brien of Thomond,
he made preparations to expel the English wholly from,the
province. Marching to Athenry with a large army, he
was there confronted by an army of English equally nu-
merous, under William de Burgo and Richard Bermingham.
The English were well armed, well equipped in every way,
and well disciplined ; while the Irish fought as usual in
their irregular fashion, clad only in their safiron tunics.
The pitched battle that followed was long and desperately
contested ; but at length the Irish were utterly defeated,
leaving 11,000 men dead on the field. The brave young
Felim, then only twenty-three years of age, from whom, as
the Four Masters say, the Irish had expected more than
from any other Gael then living, fell himself, fighting side
by side with his men. This was by far the most decisive
and fatal defeat inflicted on the Irish since the invaders
first set foot on Irish soil. In it almost all the native
Chap. XL EDWARD BRUCE S05
nobility of Connaught perished; and the Irish annalists
state that in the whole province there remained of the
O'Conors only one chief — Felim's brother — able to bear
arms. For this service King Edward created Bermingham
baron of Athenry.
But the English, while victorious at Athenry, suffered
serious reverses soon after in the south. They were defeated
by O'Carroll in Ely in South Leinster ; ^ and the O'Briens
inflicted a much worse defeat on the De Clares in Dysart
O'Dea, where fell Richard de Clare himself, and a vast
number of his followers, both Irish and English.^
The baud of English who had taken possession of
Carrickfergus Castle held out most heroically; and now
Bruce himself came to conduct the siege in person Mean-
time, towards the end of the year, King Robert arrived
from Galloway with reinforcements, and was joyfully re-
ceived by his brother. The brave garrison were at last
driven to extremity by downright starvation ; and they
surrendered on condition that their lives should be spared.
Our admiration of their bravery is somewhat damped by
an act of treachery during the siege. At one time they
agreed to surrender the castle ; but when thirty Scottirii
soldiers were sent to take possession, instead of carrying
out their promise, they seized the Scots on entrance and
cast them into the dungeon. Here the prisoners were
starved to death; and we are told that the famishing
garrison devoured their bodies.
The brothers having now an army of about 20,000
Scots, and some Irish, set out early in spring (1317) for
Dublin, burning, wasting, and destroying eveiything on
their march. They encamped at Castleknock; but the
citizens of Dublin took most determined measures for
defence, burning the suburbs in their desperation, both
houses and churches, to deprive the Scots of shelter ; so
that the Bruces did not think it prudent to enter on a
siege ; and they resumed their destructive march till they
reached Limerick. But as they found this city also well
prepared for defence, and as there was still great scarcity
* Ihur Matters, 1318. • Clan's Annals, 1318.
X
306 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part IIE'
of provisions, they returned northwards after a short stay.
They had to traverse the very districts they had wasted a
short time before ; and in this most miserable march vast
numbers of them perished of cold, hunger, and disease —
scourged by the famine they had themselves created. Half-
starved, helpless, and demoralised as they were daring
this retreat, .the Scottish army could have been quite
easily crushed by the English ; yet such was the terror
inspired by Bannockbum and the name of Bruce, that
though the Anglo-Irish leaders had an overwhelming army
of 30,000 ready for action, they did not dare to attack ;
and the famishing Scots reached Ulster in the beginning
of May, greatly reduced by deaths and desertion.
And now Robert Bruce, having seen things with his
own eyes, and being convinced that it was hopeless to
attempt to conquer the country, and unite the divided
people under one stable government, returned to Scotland ;
but Edward remained behind, determined to hold his
ground as king of Ireland. During all this time the
country continued in the same miserable state : starvation,
sickness, death, and gloom everywhere, aggravated by this
most pitiless war.
The two armies remained inactive till the autumn of
the next year (1318), probably on account of the terrible
dearth. But now came an abundant harvest, and both sides
prepared for action. Bruce turned south for another con-
quering progress ; at the same time Sir John Bermingham
with an army very much more numerous marched north
from Dublin to intercept him, and came in sight of the
Scottish army at the hill of Faughart, two miles north of
Dundalk, where they had encamped. Bruce's chief coun-
sellors, both Scottish and Irish, earnestly advised him to
wait for reinforcements daily expected from Scotland, and
not to engage a force so much larger than his own : but
he was naturally rash ; and now his long series of victories
—eighteen without a reverse — had rendered him so con-
fident, that he declared he would fight even if the enemy
were four times more numerous.
The battle fought here on Sunday, 14th of October, 1318,
Chat. XL EDWAED BRUCE 307
terminated the war. Tlie issue was decided chiefly through
the bravery of Sir John Maupas, an Anglo-Irish knight,
who made a dash at Bruce and slew him in the very midst
of the Scots. Maupas was instantly cut down ; and after
the battle his body was found pierced all over, lying on
that of Bruce. The Scottish army was defeated with great
slaughter ; and the main body of the survivors, including
Hugh and Walter de Lacy, escaped to Scotland. Ber-
mingham, with barbarous vindictiveness, had the body of
Bruce cut. in pieces, to be hung up in the chief towns of
the colony, and brought the head salted in a box to King
Edward II., who immediately created him earl of Louth
and gave him the manor of Ardee.
' John de Lacy and Sir Robert de Culragh, who fell
into the hands of the colonial government, were, as ad-
herents of Bruce, starved to death in prison, under a
sentence which allowed each of them but three morsels 6^
the worst bread and three draughts of foul water on
alternate days, till life became extinct.' *
And so ended the celebrated expedition of Edward
Bruce. It was crushed by the colonists themselves without
any help ; for at this time ' England was not able to send
either men or mony to save this Kingdome.' * Though it
resulted in failure, it shook the Irish government to its
foundation and weakened it for centuries. Ulster was
almost cleared of colonists; the native chiefs and clans
resumed possession ; and there were similar movements in
other parts of Ireland, though not t6 the same extent. ' In
proportion as the invasion enfeebled the central authority,
the lords both of Irish and English blood became more
mdependent, and consequently more tyrannical. Having
now no check, they made incessant war on each other ;
and they ground down and robbed the wretched inhabitants
by merciless exactions of all kinds. The law had almost
ceased to act : the will of the local lord was now t^e\law.
There had been such general, needless, and almost
insane destruction of property, that vast numbers of the
' Gilbert, Viceroys, p. 147.
* Davies, Diseoverie, ed. 1747, p. 86.
308 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Paot nL
people lost everything and sank into hopeless poverty.
Settlers and natives, peasants as well as the chiefs who
depended on them, the dwellers of the farmsteads, and the
masters of the castles, all alike shared in the general ruin.
The whole country was thrown into a state of utter dis-
order from which it did not recover till many generations
had passed away. And to add to the misery there were
visitations of famine and pestilence — plagues of various
strange kinds — which continued at intervals during the
whole of this century.
The Irish annalists regarded Brace's expedition with
great disfavour. They looked upon it as having caused
the whole — and it was indeed answerable for a large part
— of the evils and miseries that afflicted their unfortunate
country. The following record of the Four Masters may
be taken as an example: — '1318.,: Edward Bruce, the
destroyer of [the people of] Ireland in general, both
English and Irish, was slain by the English, through dint
of battle and bravery at Dundalk. . . . And no achieve-
ment had been performed in Ireland for a long time
before, from which greater benefit had accrued to the
country than from this ; for, during the three and a half
yeara that this Edward spent in it, a universal famine pre-
vailed to such a degree that men were wont to devour
one another.'
CHAPTER XII
FUSION OF RACES : THE STATUTE OF KILKENNY
[Chief authorities : — Irish Annals ; Ware's Annals ; Richey's Short
History ; Davies's Discoverie ; Gilbert's Viceroys.]
Edward III. succeeded to the throne of England in 1327,
after the death of his father Edward II.
The Irish government emerged from the Bruce struggle
weak : it now grew weaker year by year, engaged in
defence rather than invasion ; and the causes were not
far to seek. The Irish, taking advantage of the dissensions
and heliilessness of the English, recovered a great part of
'x**
Chap. XIL
FUSION OF RACES
809
their lands. Tlie English all over the country were fast
becoming absorbed into the native population ; and the
natural tendency to incorporation was powerfully stimu-
lated by two artificial influences. In the first place, the
colonists, seeing the natives prevailing everywhere around
them, joined them for mere protection, intermarrying with
them and adopting their language, dress, and ciptoms.
The second influence was this. We have seen that as
early as the time of the visit of Prince John the distinction
began to be made between old English and new English,
English by blood and English by birth (p. 279),; a distinc-
tion which then and afterwards was the cause bf endless
trouble. In other words, the government favoured Eng-
lishmen, appointing them to almost all situations of trust
or emolument over the heads of the older settlers, those
who had borne the brunt of the struggle. These imported
officials looked down with contempt on the colonists and
never lost an opportunity of humiliating them. This most
unwise and exasperating policy estranged a large proportion
of the Anglo-Irish from the government, converted them
from loyal to disloyal subjects, and was a powerful addi-
tional inducement to them to merge into the Irish.
From these causes combined the movement of incorpo-
ration became very general during the present reign
among the English settlers of all classes, high and low.
These 'degenerate English,' as they were called, were
regarded by the loyal English with as much aversion as
the Irish; they returned hate for hate quite as cordially ;
and in later times some of the most determined and daji-
gerous leaders of rebellion were Anglo-Irish noblemen.
So completely did they become fused with the native
population, that an English writer complained that they
had become Hihemiores Hibemids ipsis, more Irish than
the Irish themselves. i
The whole country was now feeling the corisequences
of the Bruce invasion. It would be wearisome to relate
the murderous broils, at this time of constant occurrence
among the English themselves; and the reader may be
content with an account of a few of the most sanguinary
810 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Paht UT,
and notorious. Sir John Bermingham had, it seems,
drawn on himself the envy and hatred of some of his
neighbours on account of his victory at Faughart. At
Braggansto^vn near Ardee, in 1329, he was led into a
trap and treacherously slain, together with his brothers,
nephews, and retainers, to the number of 160, by the
Gernons and Savages. Among those that fell were the
great harper Mulrony Mac Carroll and twenty of his
pupils, who were on a visit with Bermingham. Such was
the weakness of the government that the murderers suc-
cessfully resisted all attempts to bring them to justice, and
this great crime was never punished. About the same
time a similar outrage was perpetrated in Munster, when
Lord Philip Hodnet and 140 of the Anglo-Irish were
massacred by their brethren, the Barrys, the Roches, and
others.
The uprising of the Irish became so general and alarm-
ing that, in 1330, the viceroy called in the aid of the most
powerful nobleman in the country, Maurice Fitzgerald,
who was at the same time created first earl of Desmond.
This only made matters worse ; for though the viceroy
had promised to pay all expenses, he was in the end unable
to do so for want of money ; and Fitzgerald, after some
successful expeditions against the Irish, quartered his
army, to the number of 10,000, on the colonists, to pay
themselves by exacting coyne and livery. This, it appears,
was the first time the English adopted the odious impost,
which afrerwards became so frequent among them.
When Fitzgerald was made earl of Desmond, Kerry was
granted to him as a ' county palatine ' ; Tipperary having
been two years before, in 1328, granted in the same way to
James Butler earl of Carrick, who was then created first
earl of Ormond. These counties palatine, of which there
were now nine altogether, occupying about two-thirds of
the whole English colony, had great fepecial privileges.
The lords who ruled over them were allowed to make war
or peace as they pleased ; they held royal courts, created
barons and knights, appointed their own judges and
sheriffs, erected courts for civil and criminal cases, and took
Chap. Xn. FUSION OF RACES
811
into their hands the entire administration of the law.
They were in fact petty kings, exercising royal jurisdic-
tion ; and within their districts the king's officers had no
authority. The palatine counties were originally insti-
tuted partly to enrich and ennoble individuals, and partly
that they might be a barrier against the native Irish ; and
their rulers, unrestrained by any check from above, kept
the people, both natives and settlers, in a state of complete • X
subjection.
Nothing could better illustrate the vacillating charac-
ter of the government of Ireland than the treatment dealt
out to those great Anglo-Irish lords. The king, with good
reason, feared their vast power; and he had before his
eyes every day the tremendous evils resulting ifrom it : —
the people oppressed, the country in perpetual civil war,
the very existence of the settlement endangered. Yet in
order to purchase their loyalty, and to use them as a pro-
tection against the ' Irish enemies,' he made some of them
more powerful than ever by conferring on them higher
titles, and by creating them sovereigns, nominally subor-
dinate, but practically independent. I'.
And after all this had been deliberately done, King
Edward changed his mind, and came to the resolution to
pull down those he had only lately raised up, especially
the earl of Desmond, ' the most exorbitant offender of all.'
He made three attempts by three different governors, and
failed in all.
The first was Sir Anthony Lucy, a stem Northumbrian
baron, who was sent over in 1331 as lord lieutenant. Soon
after his arrival he held two parliaments, one in Dublin
and the other in Kilkenny ; and as some of the lord.s
refused to attend, he had them arrested, among others the
earl of Desmond and Sir William Bermingham. Ber-
mingham, who was suspected of being implicated in a
rebellious outbreak that had lately taken place in Leinster,
was executed in the following year.
Shortly after this, Lucy was recalled and Sir John d' Arcy
was appointed lord justice. One of his first acts was
to release the earl of Desmond, after an imprisonment of
819 ■ THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Par r TIT.
eighteen months. How little Lucy, with all his severity,
had done to end the feuds of the Anglo-Irish was shown
a year after his recall by the murder (in 133S) of Wil-
liam de Burgo the Brown Eari of Ulster, grandson and
successor of the Red Earl of Bruce's days : a crime that
caused more fierce indignation than any other in the dark
record of those days. The young earl, then only twenty-
one years of age, was on his way to Carrickfergus church
on a Sunday morning, and when crossing a stream, he was
struck down from behind by Richard de Mandeville, his
own uncle by marriage, and killed by him and his con-
federates. This crime had been instigated by Mandeville's
wife, the earl's aunt, for motives of private revenge ; but
it did not pass unavenged like the Bermingham massacre.
The Anglo-Irish people of the neighbourhood, with whom
the earl seems to have been a favourite, ros6 up in a wild
and passionate burst of vengeance, and seizing on all
whom they suspected of having a hand in the deed, killed
300 of them. Many were captured also by the lord
justice D'Arcy, and afterwards hanged and quartered.
The murder of this young earl lost a great part of Ire-
land to the government, and helped to hasten the incor-
poration of the English with the Irish. He left one child,
a daughter,, who according to English law was heir to her
father's vast possessions in Ulster and Connaught, about
one-fourth of the whole Anglo-Irish territory. The Con-
naught De Burgos, members of the family, refused to be
vassals of an infant girl, knowing that whenever she got
married the estates would pass from their family to her
husband. Accordingly two of the most powerful of them.
Sir Ulick (or William) Burke, ancestor of the earls of
Clanrickard, and Sir Edmund Albanach Burke, ancestor
of Viscounts Mayo, seized the estates, declared themselves
independent of England, and adopted the Irish dress^iltnd
language. ' On the banks of the Shannon, in sight of the
royal garrison of Athlone, they stripped themselves of
their Norman dress and arms, and assumed the saffron
robes of Celtic chieftains.' ^
» Bichey, Slutri History, p. 202.
dHAP. xn.
FUSION OF RACES
813
They took also, after the manner of the Irish (p. 1 1 9),
a family name by prefixing ' Mac ' to the christian name
of their father Sir William Burke, who had been viceroy
in 1308. As Sir Ulick owned South or Upper Connaught,
he called himself Mac William Oughter (Upper), while
Sir Edmund, who was lord of North or Lower Connaught,
took the name of Mac William Eighter (Lower j. And the
rebellious chiefs, in spite of the authorities, kept the
estates, which subsequently descended to their families.
As the De Burgos were great and powerful, their example
was followed by many other Anglo-Irish families, espe-
cially in the west and south.
The loss of territory in Connaught was followed by
other disasters in rapid succession. The strong and im-
portant castles of Athlone, Roscommon, Rindown, and
Bunratty were wrested from the English ; the Leinster
septs recovered a large part of the south-east of the pro-
vince ; the districts of Leyny and Corran in North Con-
naught were seized ; and O'Moore regained his ancestral
fortress of Dunamase and many other castles. The
settlers of the county Louth felt themselves so much at
the mercy of the neighbouring native clans, that they
made a public written compact with the sept of O'Hanlon,
agreeing to pay a yearly tribute for protection from the
attacks of the natives. Agreements such as this became
afterwards very common, and the payments were known as
• black rents.'
After a considerable interval. Sir John Morris came in
1341 as deputy (for Sir John d'Arcy) to attempt what Lucy
had failed in. The proud Irish lords were very indignant
that a mere knight should be sent to govern them ; but
Morris was not deterred by their contemptuous reception.
He began with a very sweeping measure. Following out
the instructions given him, he took back all the lands and
all the privileges which either the king himself or his
father had granted ; and he re-claimed all debts that had
been cancelled. This order had two objects: to raise
money for the king, which he much needed on account of
his continental wars ; and to humble and lessen the power
814 THE PEEIOD OF THE INVASION Part IH.
of the nobles. It was followed by a much more humiliat'
ing decree : and now the policy of administering the affairs
of the country solely by Englishmen was for the first time
openly promulgated. The king issued an ordinance in
] 342 that all natives, whether of Irish or English descent,
who were married and held public offices in Ireland, should
be dismissed, and their places filled up by English-born
subjects who had property in England. <».
These measures caused intense surprise and indignation
among the Anglo-Irish of every class. Morris became
alarmed at the storm he had raised, and summoned a par-
liament to Dublin in October 1342, hopiug in some way to
allay the excitement. But the lords, headed by Desmond
and Kildare, refused to attend, openly spoke of armed resist-
ance, and convened a parliament of their own in Kilkenny.
Here they drew up a spirited remonstrance to the king.
They complained bitterly of the intolerable conduct of the
English officials, exposed their selfishness and fraud, and
represented that to their corruption and incompetency were
due the recent losses of territories and castles. T^hey ex-
posed the evils of absenteeism, and showed that many
colonial districts had been ruined, as their proprietors,
resident in England, extorted as much money as they
could and cared for nothing else, never expending a
farthing either to protect or improve their properties.
They enumerated their own services and those of their
ancestors, and prayed the king that they might not be
deprived of their justly earned rewards. The appeal was
successful; which was owing not so much to the king's
appreciation of the justice of their case as to the fact that
he was just then beginning a war with France. He granted
almost everything they asked : the resumed estates were
after some time restored, and the dismissal of the Anglo-
Irish officials ceased for the time. These concessions the
king accompanied by a request for further assistance in
his French wars.
But after all this, still another attempt was to be made.
Sir Ralph Uffbrd, who was now (1344) appointed lord jus-
tice, and whose wife was Maud, widow of the Brown Earl
Chap. XII.
FUSION OF RACES
815
of Ulster, applied himself with great determination to the
task of reducing the refractory colonial lords. But strong
as he was, his efforts were no more successful than those of
his predecessors. He attempted, by the king's order, to
recover the lands seized by the De Burgos and others in
Connaught and Ulster, but the settlers' resistance was so
determined that he was unable to do so.
He summoned a parliament, and again Desmond re-
fused to attend : whereupon Ufford, marching south, in
134)5, seized his estates, captured two of his chief castles in
Kerry, and hanged the two knights who had command of
them. Having captured the earl's seneschal, John Cotterel,
he had him hanged, and his limbs and head set up on
spikes ; and by a piece of treachery he seized Maurice the
fourth earl of Kildare, and threw him into prison, because
he had been one of the leaders of the parliament held in
Kilkenny three years before.
It would be wearisome to recount all this viceroy's
arbitrary proceedings, which caused the ruin of numerous
colonists. But he overshot the mark ; and his harshness
at last caused a universal uprising against him. The
chronicles of the time say that, in addition to his violence,
he was dishonest, and enriched himself by robbery and
unjust exactions. His wife was worse than himself, and,
it was believed, instigated him to some of his worst deeds.
He died in 1346 in the midst of his plans for crushing the
Anglo-Irish lords — ' to the great joy of everyone '; and so
fierce was the rage of the people against him that his wife,
who had lived with the grandeur and state of a queen, had
now to steal away from Dublin Castle through a back gate,
with the coffin containing her husband's body.
Very soon after Ufford's death his whole administration
was reversed, Desmond's wrongs were redressed, the earl
of Kildare was released, and both noblemen were received
into the king's favour. Kildare joined the royal army in
1 347 at the siege of Calais, where the king knighted him
for his bravery. Desmond rose so far in the favour of
his royal master that, in 1355, he was made lord justice
for life ; a distinction he did not long enjoy, for he died
316 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part 111.
half a year afterwards. With these proceedings of Ufford's
the attempts of the king to break down the power of the
Irish nobles may be regarded as having terminated.
During all this time the natives continued to encroach,
the English lost castles and territories, and the Pale be-
came more and more circumscribed. The government had
to secure the services of several chiefs near the borders, to
protect the English from further inroads, by paying them
• black rents ' — among others the OTooles and the Mac
Murroghs.
While all these wars and high political games were
passing, the people of the countfy, English and Irish
alike, were sunk in a state of misery that no pen can
describe. At this time the black death was in full swing.
Coming from the East, it swept over Europe and killed
one-third of the inhabitants ; in England one-half of the
people perished. Friar Clyn, the Kilkenny Franciscan,
has left us in his annals (at 1348) a vivid picture of its
ravages in Ireland. Once it entered a house all the family
generally fell victims ; and it swept away the inhabitants
of whole towns, villages, and castles. A mere touch was
enough to convey the infection ; people were afraid to
visit the sick or bury the dead ; and so swiftly came con-
tagion and death that the penitent and his confessor were
often borne together to the grave. I have already mentioned
that during the whole of the fourteenth century there were
frequent plague visitations in Ireland ; but this was pro-
bably the most destructive of all. Clyn describes it during
the first months of 1348 when it was at its worst ; before
and after it was not so bad. The plague was not all : the
people's cup of misery was filled to overflowing by per-
petual war and all its attendant horrors.
The Pale was, if possible, in worse plight than the rest
of Ireland. The Irish septs, notwithstanding the payment
of black rents, continually harassed the districts near the
marches ; and the misery was greatly intensified by con-
tinual squabbles between ' English by blood ' and ' English
by birth.' Troops were kept near the borders for defence
against the Irish ; but they were almost as oppressive on
Cr.AP. XIL FUSION OF RACES 817
the colonists as the Irish themselves, for they exacted pay-
ment by coyne and livery, and practised all sorts of knavery.
A trooper might have a billet for six horses but kept only
three, while he exacted livery for the whole six ; and often
a single trooper having a billet took livery in two or three
places. The purveyors for the viceregal household got the
goods but seldom paid, keeping the money for themselves.
The Irish prelates, lords, and commons, wrote to the king
that these hardships had reduced the colonists to ' a state of
destruction and impoverishment, and caused them even to
hate their lives.' * The colonists, exposed to all these exac-
tions and hardships, and scourged by pestilence, quitted
the doomed country in crowds — everyone fled who had
the means — and the settlement seemed threatened with
speedy extinction. The king attempted to stop the emi-
gration by a proclamation, which seems to have had little
effect either then or subsequently.
In this critical state of affairs King Edward resolved
to send over his third son Lionel, afterwards duke of
Clarence, as lord lieutenant: 'For' — wrote the king —
'our Irish dominions have been reduced to such utter
devastation, ruin, and misery, that they may be totally
lost if our subjects there are not immediately succoured.'
This young prince had married Elizabeth the only child of
the Brown Earl of Ulster, and in her right had become earl
of Ulster and lord of Connaught. With a force of 1,500
experienced English soldiers he came to Ireland in 1361,
having two main objects in view — to save the colony from
destruction, and to recover the estates of his wife, which
had been taken by the Irish and by the 'degenerate
English.' At the same time proclamation was made in
England that all persons having lands in Ireland should
proceed thither or send proper persons to represent them.
He had an insane hatred of the Irish, whether of native
or English blood, partly inspired by his wife, who remem-
bered the murder of her father and the treatment of her
mother ; and he showed it in a very indiscreet manner
immediately after his arrival, reviving in its bitterest form
• Gilbert, Viceroys, p. 291. i
818 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Paut III.
the old distinction between English by birth and English
by blood. Being about to march with his English army
against the O'Briens of Thornond, he issued an ill-condi-
tioned order that none of the old English should join him,
or even come near his camp. But a very little experience
brought him to his senses. Having no person who knew
the country to guide him, he continually lost his way or
got entangled in bogs and forests; and his march was
harassed by the O'Briens, who killed great numbers of his
men. The upshot was that he issued another order tor the
settlers to join him, which they did — being themselves
anxious for the defeat of the natives ; and he soon suc-
ceeded in dispersing the Munster army. But his conduct
of the war in Ireland was on the whole unsuccessful so
that in the following year the king was obliged to send
aid to ' his very dear son and his companions who were in
imminent peril.'
The prince came to Ireland three times as lord lieu-
tenant: in 1361, 1364, and 1367; and believing, after
this much experience, that it was impossible to subdue the
Irish, he caused the government, during his last visit, to
frame and pass an act of parliament — the celebrated Statute
of Kilkenny — in order to save the miserable remnant of
the settlement.
This act ' contains thirty-five chapters, of which the
following are the most important provisions.
Intermarriage, fosterage, gossipred, traffic, and inti-
mate relations of any kind with the Irish, were forbidden
as high treason — punishment death.
If any man took a name after the Irish fashion, used
the Irish language, or dress, or mode of riding [without
saddle], or adopted any other Irish customs, all his lands
and houses were forfeited, and he himself was put into jail
till he could find security that he would comply with the
law. The Irish living among the English were permitted
to remain, but were forbidden to use the Irish language
' It is published with translation and valuable notes by James
r Hardiman, M.R.I.A., for the Irish Archaeological Society, in the voiuaif
of 2'raett relating to Ireland, 1.47
CflAP. XII. THE STATUTE OF KILKENNY 819
under the same penalty. To use or submit to the Brehon
law or to exact ceyne and livery was treason.
The act complains that the Irish, when defeated in
war by individual English leaders, were often let off with a
small tribute. Accordingly no Englishman was to make
war on the Irish without the special warrant of the govern-
ment, who would conduct, supply, and finish all such
wars, ' so that the Irish enemies shall not be admitted to
peace until they be finally destroyed or shall make resti-
tution fully of the costs and charges of that war.'
The Irish were forbidden to booley or pasture on those
of the march lands belonging to the English : if they did
so the English owner of the lands might impound the
cattle as a distress for damage ; but in doing so he was to,
keep the cattle together, so that they might be delivered
up whole and uninjured to the Irish owner if he came to
pay the damages. This clause, which seems fair, and
which shows some consideration for the natives, was pro-
bably framed to prevent quarrelling between English and
Irish.
According to Brehon law, the whole sept were liable
for the offences and debts of each member. In order to
avoid quarrels, the act ordains that an English creditor
must sue an Irish debtor personally, not any other mem-
ber of the sept. This at least was a wise provision.
No native Irish clergyman was to be appointed to any
position in the church within the English district ; and no
Irishman was to be received into any English religious
house.
It was forbidden to receive or entertain Irish bards,
pipers, story-tellers, or mowers, because these and such
like often came as spies on the English.
The Statute of Kilkenny, though not exhibiting quitd
80 hostile a spirit against the Irish as we find sometimes
represented, yet carried out consistently the vicious and
fatal policy of separation adopted by the government from
the beginning. It was intended to apply only to the
English, and was framed entirely in their interests. Its
chief aim was to withdraw them from all coutact with
820 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt 1X1.
the * Irish enemies ' — so the natives are designated all
through the act — to separate the two races for evermore ;
or so far as there was to be any unavoidable intercourse
between them, to make it an intercourse of hostility:
' Whereby it is manifest that such as had the government
of Ireland under the crowne of England, did intend to
make a perpetuall separation and enmity betweene the
English and the Irish — pretending (no doubt) that the
English in the end should roote out the Irish ; which the
English not being able to do, did cause a perpetuall warre
betweene the two nations, which continued foure hundered
and odd yeares.' *
This measure it was hoped would put a stop to all
farther fusion of the races, would reclaim many of those
who had already gone over to the Irish, and would preserve
the settlement from further degeneracy and diminution.
But it proved to be impracticable, as anyone who knew
Ireland might have foreseen. The Irish and English all
over the country had been living for generations — when
their rulers let them — on terms of kindly intercourse, and
had intermarried, trafficked, gossiped, and fostered with
each other. Human nature proved too strong for law, and
it was now too late to arrest the'intermixture of the races
by artificial restrictions. The new law designed to effect
so much, turned out after a little while a dead letter.
Coyne and livery continued to be exacted from the colonists
by the three great earls, Kildare, Desmond, and Ormond,
and the Irish and Englidi went on intermarrying, gossip-
ing, fostering, and quarrelling on their own account, just
the same as before.
Moreover some of the provisions turned out to be more
prejudicial to the colonists than to the natives : and there
were soon many petitions from the inhabitants of towns to
be permitted to traffic with the Irish — otherwise ruin was
certain or taxes could not be paid — to foster and parley
with them, to entertain Irish minstrels, and other such
petitions ; most of which seem to have been granted.*
' Davies, Diteoverie, ed. 1747, p 114.
• Gilbert, Viceroyt, p. 289.
Chat. XH. THE STATUTE OF KILKENNY
821
The act had more effect on the church than on the
laity. Bat the prohibition ai^ainBt Irish clergy and monks
was of much older standing than the Statute of Kilkenny :
for we see that it formed one of the grounds of complaint of
the Irish chiefs to the Pope in the time of Bruce (p. 300) :
it was indeed as old as the invasion. So stringently and
consistently was it carried out, that we find the govern-
ment often granting licenses, for one re.ason or another,
to the Anglo-Irish bishops to appoint certain individual
Irishmen to benefices within English territory. But this
separation, which was chiefly the work of the government,
did not constitute ' two churches,' as is sometimes erro-
neously stat-ed. There was one church all through, of
which the clergy and religious belonging to the two
nations simply kept — or perhaps we should rather say,
were kept — apart. ' There are no grounds for supposing
tliat throughout the island there was any dispute or
difference as to doctrine, or that in the fifteenth or six-
teenth century there was any variance even as to questions
of discipline. There was an English population in alle-
giance to the English crown, which had an English clergy.
There was also a population styled by the English the
Irish enemy, which had an Irish clergy. Their respective
clergies preached and prayed with their respective flocks.' '
The reign of Edward III. was a glorious one for
England abroad, but was disastrous to the English
dominion in Ireland. Great battles were fought and won
for the French possessions, bringing glory and nothing
more ; while Ireland, which was more important than all
the French possessions put together, was neglected. The
country was simply going to destruction. At the very
time of the battle of Cressy the settlement had been almost
wiped out of existence — not more than four counties now
remained to the English ; and the English power did not
extend beyond the Pale ; for the three great earls of Kil-
dare, Desmond, and Ormond acted as independent princes,
and did not acknowledge the authority of the English king.
' Richey's Shori Hittory of the Trith People, p. 272.
322 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Paut IlL
If one half of the energy and solicitude expended in France
had been directed to Ireland the country could have been
easily pacified and compacted into one great empire with
England.
Almost as soon as the English had made permanent
settlements in Ireland the evil of absenteeism began to
make itself felt. A number of speculators got possession
of large tracts of land, and while they lived out of the
country and discharged none of the duties expected from
holders of property, they drew their rents from their Irish
estates and drained the country of its capital. Things
became much worse in this respect towards the close of
Edward's reign ; for, as we have already stated, there was
a vast exodus of the well-to-do Anglo-Irish to England,
who left their Irish properties to be managed by local
agents.
Many attempts to remedy this evil were made about
this time. The parliament of 1368 complained that the
Irish continued to despoil the English territory, so that
the land was likely to be wholly lost, and declared that the
country could not be saved unless those persons who had
properties in Ireland came to reside on them in person or
sent proper representatives. And complaints to this efiect
were now very frequent. In 1369 an act was passed to
enforce residence on pain of forfeiture, and many estates
were seized whose owners did not comply with the order.
During the reign of Richai'd II., who succeeded Ed-
ward III. in 1377, there was more determined legislation in
this direction. A law was passed that all having estates in
Ireland should reside on them, or if absent for reasonable
cause should send responsible persons to live on and defend
them, otherwise they should give up two-thirds of their
Irish incomes for that purpose. And later on, in 1392, an
attempt was made to revive the same law.^ This law
was for some time enforced, but only by fits and starts.
Under its provisions there were many seizures of land in
Ireland during this and the next three reigns. But many
evaded it, and at last it gradually fell into disuse. It pro-
• Cox, ed. IGSa, p. 1U7.
Chap. XIL
THE STATUTE OF KILKENNY
323
duced no lasting results ; and absenteeism has descended
through seven centuries to our own times, one of the
permanent and one of the worst evils of Ireland.
CHAPTER XIII
ART MAC MURROGH KAVANAGH
[Chief authorities :— Those mentioned at head of last chapter; Johnes's
Froissart ; Archseologia, xx. ; Thomas D'Arcj McQee's Memoir of
Art Mac Murrogh.']
The man that gave most trouble during the reign of
Richard II. was Art Mac Murrogh Kavanagh, king of
Leinster. This renowned chief was bom in 1857, and was
a direct descendant of Donall Kavanagh, son of the arch-
traitor Dertnot Mac Murrogh. In early youth, even in his
sixteenth year, he began his active career as defender of the
province ; and at eighteen (in 1375) he was elected king of
Leinster, in succession to Donogh Mac Murrogh Kavanagh,
who had been treacherously killed by the English.^
Some time after his election he married Eliza le Veele
baroness of Norragh (now Narraghmore in Kildare),
daughter of Maurice Fitzgerald fourth earl of Kildare;
whereupon the English authorities seized the lady's vast
estates, inasmuch as she had violated the Statute of Kil-
kenny by marrying a mere Irishman. In addition to this,
the black rent — eighty marks a year — which had been paid
to him, as it had been for many years to his predecessor,
was for some reason stopped, soon after the accession of
Richard II. ; probably through the poverty of the exchequer.
Exasperated by these proceedings, he collected an army
and devastated and burned many districts in the counties
of Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow, and Kildare, and dedared
• After this the enumeration of authorities at the heads of the
chapters will be discontinued. I will henceforward content myself —
and I hope content the reader — by quoting the authority for each
individual statement whenever 1 deem it necesaary.
^ Four Magtirt, IZW.
rt
324 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Past III.
that he would make no peace till his demands had been
paid. The Dublin council were at last forced to pay him
his eighty marks, after which they admitted him to the
* king's peace.' About the same time Murrogh O'Brien
made a raid from Thomond on the Leinster settlement,
and demanded a hundred marks as the price of retiring ;
but as there were onlv nine marks at the time in the
treasury, the rest was made up by subscription from the
chief colonists.'
Meantime Ireland had been going from bad to worse ;
and at last the king resolved to come hither himself with
an overwhelming force, hoping thereby to overawe the
whole country into submission and quietness. He made
great preparations for this expedition ; and on the 2nd of
October, 1394, attended by many of the English nobles,
he landed at Waterford with an army of 34,000 men, the
largest force ever yet brought to the shores of Ireland.
As soon as Mac Murrogh heard of this, far from show-
ing any signs of fear, he swept down on New Ross, then
a flourishing English settlement strongly walled, burned
the town, and brought away a vast quantity of booty. And
when the king and his army marched north from Waterford
to Dublin, he harassed them on the way after his usual
fashion, attacking them from the woods and bogs and
cutting off great numbers. The king suffered other re-
verses : his troops were repulsed with loss by O'Conor of
Offaly and by O'CarroU of Ely, whose lands he had at-
tempted to ravage.*
That the Irish chiefs could resist this mighty force was
however out of the question ; so they resolved to yield
quietly when they 8a% it was inevitable ; and at a place
called Bally gorry near Carlow, Mowbray earl of Notting-
ham received the submission of a number of the southern
chiefs in 1396, and amongst them Mac Murrogh, the most
dreaded of all. On this occasion Mac Murrogh was for a
short time kept in captivity on some accusation brought
against him by the earl of Ormond, and was released only
» Gilbert, Viceroyt, p. 243.
* Jf'oxir Masteri, 1395.
I,
Chap. XIII. ART MAC MUEROGH KAVANAGH ^ • • 325
when he had given hostages. His submission and arrest
cannot have been a very humiliating proceeding; for in
the end his black rent was restored to him, and it con-
tinued to be paid to his descendants till the time of
Henry VIII.' It was agreed also that his wife's property,
the barony of Narraghmore, should be restored to her.
The king himself afterwards received O'Neill prince of
Ulster, and other northern chiefs, as well as Brian O'Brien
of Thomond, in great state at Drogheda, whither he had
gone from Dublin to meet them ; and all made formal sub-
mission.
No conditions of any consequence were exacted from
the northern leaders, except the usual promise of fealty
for the future. But the Leinster chiefs were treated very
differently. They and their people were sentenced to give
up by a certain day their homes and their lands in
Leinster, and to leave the province, taking with them how-
ever their cattle and other movable goods. As a sort of
compensation, the chiefs were to get pensions for life :
and they and their people were permitted to occupy such
lands as they could seize from the ' Irish enemies * else-
where. The lands to be thus left vacant — all th© mountain
district between Dublin and Wexford — the king intended
to plant with a colony of English settlers.'
Altogether about 75 chiefs submitted to Richard and
his deputy Mowbray on this occasion. They were after-
wards invited to Dublin, where they were feasted sump-
tuously for several days by the king. It was with some
difficulty they were persuaded to dress and dine after the
English manner ; and their strange appearance and fierce
demeanour caused great astonishment among the English
nobles. The four provincial kings, O'Neill, O'Conor, Mac
Murrogh, and O'Brien, were told that King Richard in-
tended to confer on them the honour of knighthood ; at
which they appeared surprised, and said they did not nee- 1
it as they were knights already ; for it was the custom of
every Irish king to knight his sons at seven years of ago.
• Cox, Hist, aflrel. ed. 1689, p. 1.S8.
• Davies, Discoverie, 224 ; Cox, ed. 1689, p. lia
826 THE PERioD OF THE INVASION Pakt IIL
In the end. however, they yielded ; and the ceremony was
performed by the king in a very imposing fashion (1395).'
Richard, with all his silly vanity and feebleness of
character, was shrewd enough to perceive the real causes
of' the miserable condition of Ireland. In a letter to his
uncle the duke of York, his regent in England, he
describes the Irish people as of three classes: — Irish
savages or enemies (the old natives, who were outside the
pale of the law), Irish rebels (i.e., those of the English
settlers and of the natives who had once obeyed English
law, but who were now in rebellion), and English subjects.
He tells his uncle plainly that the ' rebels ' were driven
to rebellion by injustice and ill-usage. He goes oi^ to say
that if they were not treated wisely and considerately,
they would most probably join themselves with the king's
enemies (the natives) ; and he announces his intention to
admit them all to favour and protection, by which he
hoped to make them good subjects.
But the king's sympathies did not extend as far as the
* Irish enemies,' who might just as easily have been made
good subjects : on the contrary, he had no hesitation to set
them slaughtering each other in order to make room for
his projected colony in Leinster.
But this magnificent and expensive expedition pro-
duced no useful result whatever. In the words of Sir
John Davies,* the king ' returned into England w^ith much
honour and smal profit ; for though he had spent a huge
masse of treasure, yet did hee not encrease his revennew
thereby one sterling pound, nor enlarged the English
borders the bredth of one Acre of land ; neither did he
extend the jurisdiction of his courtes of justice by one
foote further than the English colonies, wherein it was
used and exercised before.'
As for the submission and reconciliation of the Irish
chiefs, it was all pure sham. They did not look upon
King Richard as their lavrful sovereign; and as the
' So far the acconnt of Richard's proceedings is taken from
Froissart (ii. 677) as it was given to him by a French gentleman named
Castide or CrJ^<tede, who hsMl liveJ suven years among the Irish.
" DUcoverie, p. 51.
Chap. Xni. ART MAC MURIIOGH KAVANAGH 827
promises they had made had been extorted by force, they
did not consider themselves bound to keep them. And
the vicious and cruel arrangement by which the people of
Leinster were to leave their homes and seek other lands
by making war on their neighbours — this seems never to
have been carried out, or it was carried out only to a very
trifling extent.
Atter a stay of nine months the king was obliged
to return to England in 1395, leaving as his deputy his
cousin young Roger Mortimer earl of March, who, as
Richard had no children, was heir to the throne of Eng-
land. Scarcely had he left sight of land when the chiefs
one and all renounced their allegiance, and the fighting
went on again, victory now with one side, now with the
other. The English of Leinster made a treacherous
attempt of some kind, of which we have no details, to
capture Mac Murrogh ; ' but,' say the Four Masters (1395),
' this was of no avail to them, for he escaped from them
by the strength of his arm and by his valour.'
At last in a battle fought at Kells in Kilkenny in 1397
against the Leinster clans, amongst them a large contin-
gent of Mac Murrogh 's kern, the English suffered a great
overthrow, and Mortimer was slain.' When news of this
catastrophe reached King Richard he flew into a mighty
rage ; and although things were at this time going on
very badly for him in England, yet in the midst of all his
troubles and dangers, he foolishly resolved on a second
expedition to Ireland, in order, as he said, to avenge the
death of his cousin, and especially to chastise Mac Murrogh.
Another army was got together quite as numerous as
the former. Of this unfortunate expedition we have a
very interesting account, written in verse by a French
gentleman who accompanied the army of the king and
was an eye-witness of all the proceedings. From this
account, which I have closely followed, the details given
here are chiefly taken.'
' Bowling, AnnaU, A.D, 1397.
* It is translated by Sir George Carew, as published in Harris's
Hihermca, p. 49 ; and in a more scholarly manner by Rev. J. Webb in
Archteologia, xx. Ihis French writer is very fair to the Irish.
R^8 THE PEKIOD OF THE IJfVASION Part III.
In tlte middle of May 1 399 the king landed with hig
army at Waterford, and after a short delay he marched to
Kilkenny on his way to Dublin. But instead of continuing
on the open level country, he turned to the right towards
the Wicklow highlands to attack Mac Murrogh : and here
his troubles began. Mac Murrogh, whose wife's barony of
Narraghmore, it should be remarked, had in violation of the
compact of 1395 been granted by the king to the duke
of Surrey,' retired within his fastnesses, avoiding open
conflict like the skilful general that he was, and declaring
that he would defend the land to the death ; and the royal
army soon began to suffer from want of provisions.
Making their way slowly and toilsomely through the
lulls, they at length descried the Leinster army, about
JJjOOO in number, high up on a mountain side, coolly
looking down on them, with dense woods between. Having
waited for some time vainly hoping to be attacked, the
king had the adjacent villages and houses burned down ;
and while they were blazing, he ktHghted Henry of
I^ncaster, then a lad of thirteen, afterwards the great
King Henry V. of Rngland. Then getting together 2,500
of the inhabitants, whose homes he had destroyed, he
caused them to cut a way for his army through the woods :
and ttje passage having been cleared, he pushed on, deter-
mined to overwhelm the little body of mountaineers.
But he was soon beset with difficulties of all kinds :
bogs, fallen trees, hidden gullies, and quagmires in which
the soldiers sank up to their middle. At the same time
flying pai-ties of the Irish continually darted out from the
woods on every side, flinging their lances with terrible
force and precision that no armour could withstand, cutting
off foraging parties and stragglers, and then disappearing
in the woods, ' so nimble and swift of Fote,' says the
Frenchman, ' that like unto Staggs they run over Moun-
tains and Valleys, whereby we received grete Anoyance
and Damage.' And so the army struggled on day by day,
never able to overtake the main body of the mountaineers
who continually retired before them ; and besides those
' Gilbert, Viceroys, 281.
Chap. XIII. ART MAC MURROGH KAVANAGH C29
that fell by the Irish, great numbers were all this time
perishing of hunger and hardship.
Mac Murrogh was well aware of the terrible plight of
the royal army ; and when King Richard sent him a
message demanding submission and offering pardon' and
}eward, he returned answer 'that for all the Goold in the
World he wuld not submit himself, but he wuld continue
to Warr and endamage the King in all that he mought.
He probably did not trust in the good faith of the king,
remembering the treacherous attempt to capture him four
years previously, and the breach of contract regarding his
wife's property.
In this dire strait the army made their way across hill,
jnoor, and valley, men and horses starving, and periBhing
with rain and storm ; till at the end of eleven days of toil
and suffering they came in sight of the sea, somewheie
on the south part of the Wicklow coast. Here they
beheld with joy three vessels off shore which had been
sent from Dublin laden with provisions ; and the starving
multitude, breaking through all restraints of discipline,
plunged into the water and struggled and fought for every
morsel of food. The timely arrival of these ships saved
the whole army from annihilation. Next day they resumed
march, moving now along the coast towards Dublin ; while
Mac Murrogh's flying parties hung on their rear a,nd
harassed their retreat, never giving them an hour'^ rest.
But even Mac Murrogh saw that he could not hold
out to the end ; and now he sent a messenger with an
offer of submission, and a request to the king to send one
of his nobles to arrange terms of peace. * This News
brought much Joy into the English Camp, every Man
being weary of Toile and desirous of Rest ' ; and the
young earl of Gloucester was deputed to confer with the
chief, taking with him 1 ,200 men as guard, and accom-
panied by the French gentleman who afterwards told the
story.
When they had come to the place of conference Mac
Murrogh was seen descending a mountain side between
two woods, accompanied by a multitude of followers. He
880 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt III.
rode, without saddle, a noble horse that had cost him four
hundred cows, and he galloped down the face of the hill
so swiftly, says the French writer, 'that I never in all
my life saw hare, or deer, or any other animal go with
such speed as his horse.' He brandished a long spear,
which, when he had arrived near the meeting place, he
flung from him with great dexterity. Then his followers
fell back, and he met the earl alone near a small brook ;
and those that saw him remarked that he was tall of
stature, well knit, strong and active, with a fierce and
stern countenance.
The parley lasted for a long time, but it ended in
nothing; for Mac Murrogh insisted on what Gloucester
refused to grant — that he should be free from any blame
for all that had passed in Ireland since the king's first
visit ; and he declared he would never agree to any other
conditions. So they parted ; and on Gloucester's return
with the news, the king was greatly disappointed and
incensed, and swore he would never leave Ireland till he
had taken Mac Murrogh living or dead. And he resumed
his march to Dublin without further delay ; for the great
army still suflfered from want of food. Dublin must have
been in those days a prosperous city ; for though the king
remained there with his whole army — 30,000 or there-
abouts— for six weeks, yet, as the metrical narrative in-
forms us, there was no rise in the price of provisions.
The king's first step, after his arrival in Dublin, was
to divide the army into three parts to hunt down Mac
Murrogh ; and he offered a large reward for his apprehen-
sion. Bat before these arrangements could be carried out
he was recalled to England by alarming news ; and when
he had arrived he was made prisoner, and a new king,
Henry IV., was placed on the throne (1399).*
Notwithstanding the disasters of the English, and the
spirited resistance of Mac Murrogh, he suffered severely by
this royal visit. Many of his sub-chiefs, including his
own uncle, terrified by the immense display of force,
* Here ends that part of the French metrical Narrative relating to
Ireland.
Chap.xui. art mac murrogh kavanagh 831
withdrew from him and submitted to the king. And we
find the following entry in the Annals of Clonmacnoise : —
'A.D. 13y8 [correctly 1399]. Richard king of England
arrived in Ireland this year, by whom Art Mac Murrogh
was mightily weakened and brought low.'
After the king's departure, Mac Murrogh's raids became
so intolerable that the government agreed to compensal e
him for his wife's lands, arid prayed him for respite till
they should send to Enj^land for instructions as to other
claims he made. In their communication they inform
King Henry IV. that Mac Murrogh had given notice that
he would never have peace but would make open war
unless his wife's lands were restored and his other claims
satisfied before the next feast of St. Michael : and they
express their fears that he would ultimately destroy the
country.' He seems, however, to have got such satisfaction
as kept him quiet for some time. Two years later (1401)
he made a terrible raid into Wexford, in which numbers
of the settlers were slain.^ But this was avenged soon
after by the English of Dublin. Encouraged probably by
the arrival of Thomas the young duke of Lancaster, the
new king's son, a boy of twelve years old, who had been
sent over as lord lieutenant, they marched south along the
coast, in 1402, led by the mayor John Drake, and defeated
the O'Byrnes near Bray, killing 500, including some Mun-
ster kern who happened to be present under their chief
O'Meagher. For this and other services, the king granted
to the city of Dublin the privilege of having a gilt sword
carried before the mayor.
The position of governor of Ireland was in those days
not a comfortable one. The young prince governed the
country by a council, who found it very hard to get his
salary from England, and impossible to raise money in
Ireland j so that after spending every penny of their own
' Gilbert, Viceroys, p. 292.
' Annals of Lough Key, ii. 97. The annalist adds : * Retaliation
for this was committed by the foreigners of Dublin on the Gael of
licinster, and a great many of the retained kern of Munster under
Toite O'Meajrher were slain there.' This obviously refers to the raid*
on the OByrres, related abuve.
\
8S2 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part IH;
money they had to pawn nearly all the prince's jewels and
plate to maintain the court.'
After a short period of quietness Mac Murrogh renewed
the war in 1405, plundered and burned Carlow and Castle-
deimot, two English settlements, and again overran (the
county Wexford. The young lord lieutenant, having
sojourned in Ireland for two years, returned to England.
Sir Stephen Scroop, his deputy, now determined to invade
Mac Murrogh's territory ; and accompanied by the earls
of Desmond and Ormoud and by the^rior of Kilraainham,
he marched southwards through Kildare. Mac Murrogh,
in no way scared, met them near Callan in Kilkenny, where
in 1407 was fought a well-contested battle. For a long
time in the beginning the Irish had the upper hand,
and it seemed very likely they would win ; but at the
critical juncture some fresh English forces coming up
turned the fortune of the day, and Scroop gained a com-
plete victory. Immediately after the fight he marched
suddenly on Callan. where he surprised O'CarroU lord of
Ely, and killed O'Carroll himself and 800 of his followers.
Altogether 3,000 of the Irish fell in these two conflicts —
the greatest reverse ever sustained by MacMurrogh."
This defeat kept him quiet for a time. But in 1413
he inflicted a severe defeat on the men of Wexford, slaying
many and taking a great number of prisoners.' Three
years after this (1416) the English of Wexford combined,
with the determination to avenge all the injuries he had
inflicted on them. But he met them on their own plains,
defeated them with a loss of 320 in killed and prisoners,
and so thoroughly frightened them that they were glad to
escape further consequences by making peace and giving
hostages -for future good behaviour.*
This was the old hero's last exploit. He died in New
Boss a week after the Christmas of 1417, in the sixtieth
year of his age, after a reign of forty-two ye^rs over Lein-
ster. O'Doran his chief brehon, who had been spending the
Christmas with him, died on the same day ; and there are
' Gilbert, Viceroyt, p. 295. • Grace, Annals, 1401.
• Four Masters, LilS. « Jbid. 1416.
CvAV. Xra. ATIT MAC MURROGH KAVANAGH 8^3
good grounds for suspecting that both were poisoned by a
woman who had been instigated by some of Mac Murrogh's
enemies.
The Four Masters, recording his death, praise him as
' a man who had defended his own province against the
English and the Irish from his sixteenth to his sixtieth
year ; a man full of hospitality, knowledge, and chivalry ;
a man full of prosperity and royalty ; and the enricher of
churches and monasteries.*
He was the most heroic, persevering, and indomitable
defender of his country from Brian Boru to Hugh O'Neill ;
and he maintained his independence for near half a century
just beside the Pale, in spite of every effort to reduce him
to submission.
CHAPTER XIV
HOW IRELAND FARED DURING THE FRENCH WARS AND
THE WARS OF THE ROSES
Henry V., who ascended the throne in 1413, was so en-
grossed with France that he gave hardly any attention to
Ireland : so that there was little or no change in Irish
affairs during his reign. There was strife everywhere ;
and the native chiefs continued their fierce inroads on the
Pale. Matters at last looked so serious for the English
settlement that in 1414 the king sent over an able and
active military man as lord lieutenant. Sir John Talbot
Lord Furnival, who subsequently distinguished himself in
the wars against France.
One of his first proceedings shows that notwithstanding
the Statute of Kilkenny the colonists practised fosterage
with the Irish as much as ever. He appointed commis-
sioners to traverse the Pale and seize all Irish infants at
fosterage among the loyal English. There were also no
doubt just as many infants oX the colonists among tha
Irish whom the commissioners could not reach.
He commenced his military operations in 1415 in a
834 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Past IU.
decided way by making a circuit round the Pale. Beginning
in the south with Leix, he devastated the whole district ;
till at last its chief, O'Moore, was forced to sue for peace :
which was granted to him, but only on the humiliating
condition that he should help the English against his
neighbours. He next, with O'Moore, attacked and reduced
Mac Mahon of Oriell, whom he forced to accept the same
condition ; and with the help of these two he reduced
two other powerful chiefs, O'Neill and O'Hanlon.
But, in the words of Sir John Davies, Fumival * had
power to make them [the Irish chiefs] seeke the king's
peace, but not power to reduce them to the obedience of
subjects.' At first, indeed, the people of the Pale were
dazzled and delighted at his brilliant success. But it
brought them far more evil than good, and their joy soon
gave place to execration ; for while the relief was merely
temporary, he subjected them when all was over, in viola-
tion of the Statute of Kilkenny, to coyne and livery, having
no other way of paying his soldiers ; exactly as the earl of
Desmond had done eighty-five years before. The poor
people of the Pale were now and for a long time after-
wards plagued with this hateful exaction ; and by degrees,
to use the words of Davies, ' coyne and livery, which the
Statute of Kilkenny had for a time abolished, was risen
again from hell.' Yet it remained treason by act of
parliament ; and consequently it was always dangerous to
resort to it, as we shall see in the case of tiie great earl of
Desmond.
Nothing could better show the miseries of the colonists
than their total lack of manliness and ^If-respect as
exhibited in the whining and beseeching tone of some of
their memorials about this time. In 1416 the principal
men — ecclesiastics, nobles, knights, mayors, &c. — wrote to
the king that they were ' in a land environed by Irish
enemies and English rebels, and in point to be destroyed ' ;
and they go on to say, ' We humbly beseech your gracious
lordship that it would please you of your special grace to
think upon your said land, and in the works of charity to
have mercy and pity on us your poor lieges thereof, who
Chap. XIV. DURING THE FRENCH WARS 835
are environed on all sides with English rebels and Irish
enemies.''
When Talbot was recalled in 1419, he * went to England
carrying along with him the curses of many, because he,
being run much in debt for victuals and other matters, would
pay little or nothing at all.' ' No sooner had he embarked
than the Irish resumed their attacks, and for years inces-
santly harried and worried the miserable Palesmen, except,
indeed, when kept quiet in some small degree by the pay-
ment of black rent. To such desperate strarte were these
brought, that in a statement of grievances laid by them
before the king in 1420, they prayed him that he would
lay the whole statement of their misfortunea before the
Pope in order that his holiness might institflte m crusade
against the Irish, whom no doubt they thought! as bad as
Saracens, ' for the relief and salvation of the land and of
your lieges in that behalf, and in perpetual destruction of
those enemies by the aid of God.' '
The accession of Henry VI. (1422) made no improve-
ment in the country, which continued to be everywhere
torn by strife. Ireland v/ as now indeed, and for generations
before and after, in a far worse condition than at any time
under native management, even during the anarchical
period after the battle of Clontarf.
The people of the Pale probably fared neither better
nor worse than those of the rest of the country. But to
add to their misfortunes, there arose, about the time of
the king's accession, a deadly quarrel between the great
Ormond family — the Butlers — on the one hand, and on
the other the Talbots : namely, Richard Talbot, archbishop
of Dublin, and his brother Lord Furnival, who came twice
again to Ireland as lord lieutenant. This feud was so
violent that it put a stop to almost all government business
for many years ; and each party, when in powerj oppressed
the other to the utmost : * till at last, in 1423, the king
and council had to send peremptory orders that all legal
proceedings between them should be annulled^ and that
• Gilbert, Vieerovt, p. .S06. * Ware, Annals, 1419. |
• Gilbert, Yicerai/a, p. 31 i. * Cox, Bist. uf Irel. ed. 1089, p. 158.
836 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part in.
the quarrel should finally cease. But the cessation was
only temporary: the feud broke out more fiercely than
before, so that twenty years later (in 14 iS) the king had
again to interpose.
Meantime in 1423 the Irish ot parts of Ulster made a
terrible raid on Louth and Meath, defeated the army sent
against them, and carried off great booty ; till at last the
inhabitants had to buy peace by agreeing to pay black
rent. The viceroy Ormond was quite powerless to repress
this and other attacks ; and the king was at last forced
to send money from England to raise another army and
subsidise some of the border chiefs, which enabled Ormond
to repel the Irish for the time being. Of the next score
of years it is enough to say that the miseries of the
country, and of the Pale in particular, increased rather
than diminished ; and the Irish when not bought off made
constant plundering incursions on the borders. Within the
Pale all was disorder and corruption. The leading officials
seldom paid debts, while at the same time they robbed the
king and enriched themselves. We read of one lying in
wait for another, capturing him after slaying some of his
attendants, and holding him in durance till ransomed.
Fitzwilliam of Dundrum near Dublin, with an armed troop,
broke into the house of the chief baron at Bagot Rath
beside the city, and murdered him while at dinner. And
the settlers in the south — in and around Cork, Kinsale,
Waterford, Wexford, Youghal, &c. — were in just as bad
plight.'
In 1449 Richard Plantagenet duke of York, a prince
of the royal blood and heir to the throne of England, was
appointed lord lieutenant for ten years, with such extra-
ordinary powers and privileges that he was more like a
king than a governor. He was connected with Ireland by
several ties, being earl of Ulster and lord of Connaught
and Meath by descent from Lionel duke of Clarence ; and
he possessed a vast amount of property in the country.
He had strong hopes of becoming king of England ;
and as he had many powerful enemies among the Lancas-
' Gilbert, ( ieeroyn, 343.
CrAP. XIV.
DURING THE FRENCH WARS
337
trian party, he did his best from the first to win the
warm-hearted Irish to his side, treating the natives, both
of English and Irish descent, with great fairness and con-
sideration.' He chose the two earls of Ormond and Des-
mond to stand sponsors for a son who was born to him in
Dublin ; thus connecting himself with the two great Anglo-
Irish ruling families by the Irish tie of gossipred. He
was, accordingly, very popular on all hands, and the Irish
chiefs paid him great respect. They were delighted with
what they were so little accustomed to — fair treatment —
and they sent him as many beeves for his own use as it
pleased him to ask.^
In his first year of office he had a bill passed in a
parliament held in Dublin, to prevent those living on the
marches sending the soldiers they kept for defence on
coyne and livery among the husbandmen : directing that
no marcher should keep more mercenaries than he himself
couldTsupport. In the preamble to the bill there is a
frightful picture of the condition of the people (i.e. the
colonists). In time of harvest companies of the soldiers
were in the habit of going with their wives, children,
servants, and friends, sometimes to the number of a hundred,
to the farmers' houses, eating and drinking, and paying
for nothing. They ' many times rob, spoil, and kill the
tenants and husbandmen, as well by night as by day ' ; and
their horses were turned out to graze in the meadows
and in the ripe corn, ruining all the harvest. And if
there was any show of resistance, ' they bum, rob, spoil,
and kill ; and for the most part the land is wasted and
destroyed.' *
It is worthy of remark that this parliament, under the
influence of the popular duke, asserted the independence
of the Irish legislature : that they had a right to a separate
coinage, and that they were absolutely fr^ from all lawi
except those passed by the lords and commons of Ireland.
This sentiment must have grown up gradually; and it
attained strength in proportion to the weakness of the
1449.
' Davies, Ditcoverie, 227-8. * Four Marten, A.D.
• Gilbeit, Tiecroyt, pp 355-6.
Z
388 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Paht IIL
English influence in Ireland ; but it was now for the first
time formally and distinctly asserted.'
The Pale was now reduced to such a low ebb that when
Mac Geoghegan with some other neighbour chiefs made
inroads, and burned some towns and villages, the duke,
for want of money, was unable to raise men enough to
repel them, and had to come to terms. Whereupon in
1450 he wrote a passionate letter to his brother, the earl of
Salisbury, lord chancellor of England, saying that if his
promised payment was not sent he would be forced to
resign, • and very necessity will compell mee to come into
England to live there, upon my poor livelihood, for I had
lever bee dead than any inconvenience should fall there-
unto in my default : for it shall never be chronicled, by
the grace of God, that Ireland was lost by my negligence.' '
He probably got the money, for he still held his post.
He had not been in Ireland for more than a year when
Jack Cade's rebellion broke out; on which he went to
England in 1451 to look after his own interests. During
his absence Ireland was governed by deputies appointed
by himself.
Amidst all this heartless tumult, it is pleasing to be
able to record that literature still retained its fascination
for the native mind. In 1451 died Margaret wife of
O'Conor of Offaly and daughter of O'Carroll of Ely, a
woman who is greatly praised by the Irish for her un-
bounded benevolence and love of learning. The annalists
relate that twice in one year she invited to a great banquet
the learned men of Ireland and Scotland — poets, musicians,
brehons, antiquaries, &c. The first meeting was held at
Killeigh near Tullamore, when 2,700 were present; and
the second at Rathangan in Kildare, to which were invited
all who were absent from the first. Margaret herself was
present ; and she sat high up in the gallery of the church
in view of the assembly, clad in robes of gold, surrounded
by her friends and by the clergy and brehons. All were
' Ball's Hist. Review of Irish Pari. p. 27 ; Leland, u. 42 ; Bichey.
ShoH Bist. 232.
• Campion's Sistorie of Ireland, ed. 1809, p. 147.
Chap. XIV. DURING THE WARS OP THE ROSES
889
feasted in royal style, seated according to rank; after
which each learned man was presented with a valuable
gift ; and the names of all present were entered in a roll
by Grilla-na-Neeve Mac Egan chief brehon to O'Conor the
lady's husband.'
From the first arrival of the Anglo-Normans, the colony
was only able to maintain itself by occasional help from
England : help in men and money at dangerous junctures.
For the past century and a half however the English kings
had been so taken up with wars in France, Scotland, and
Wales, that they had little leisure to attend to Ireland, and
the colonists were left in a great measure to shift for them-
selves; for the spasmodic action of Richard II. and Lord
Fumival produced only temporary results. Accordingly
we have seen the Irish encroaching, the Pale growing
smaller, and the people of the settlement more oppressed
and more miserable, year by year.
But now, about this time (1454), began in England the
tremendous struggle between the houses of York and
Lancaster, commonly known as the Wars of the Roses,
which lasted for about thirty years, and during which the
colony fared worse than ever. This great civil war pro-
foundly afiected Ireland, for all the chief Anglo-Irish lords
took part in it. The Geraldines sided with the house of
York, and the Butlers with the house t)f Lancaster ; and
the leading gentlemen of these two houses, as well as most
of those of the other Anglo-Irish families, went to England
to take part in the several battles, going and returning as
occasion demanded, and generally leaving Ireland almost
wholly unprotected in their absence.
Then the Irish rose up everywhere, overran the lands
of the settlers, and took back whole districts, some of which
they ever after retained. It came to this pass at last, that
they obtained possession of the whole of Ireland, except
the Pale and some few places along the coast of Ulster.
The Pale itself became smaller than ever, till it included
only the county Louth and about half those of Dublin,
' Annals of Ireland, translated by Mac Firbis, Irish Areh. Misecl,
vol. i. p, 227 ; and Four Matteri, A.D 1451.
%2
340 THE PERIOD OF THE IKVASION Part IIL
Meath, and Kildare. In this little tract alone did English
authority and English law prevail ; and the wretched
inhabitants, surrounded on three sides by the fierce native
tribes, had to pay yearly black rents — now so heavy as to
be well nigh intolerable — to the Irish chiefs to purchase
peace.' To so low a state had the Pale been reduced that
at one time not more than 200 men could be got together
to defend it.
Looking back at this distance of time, it seems extra-
ordinary that the Irish did not seize the opportunity to
regain possession of the whole country. Long before, in
far less favourable circumstances, they had fought valiantly
under Brian Bom, Donall O'Brien, and Mac Murrogh ; and
ages afterwards at the Yellow Ford, Benburb, the Boyne,
and Aughrim. But now it required, as it were, nothing
more than to stretch forth a hand to wipe out the colony.
The explanation is that there was no Irish leader patriotic
and powerful enough to unite the Irish chiefs : the oppor-
tunity was come but the man was wanting : and they were
so insanely bent on their own wretched broils, or so meanly
satisfied with black rents, that they never troubled them-
selves about the interests of the country at large.
At the end of eight years the duke of York returned
to Ireland, in 1459, this time as a fugitive fleeing from the
Lancastrians, who had got the upper hand for the time.
After the battle of Northampton, in which the Yorkists
gained the day, he returned to England with a great
following from Ireland, and claimed the throne. But he
was defeated at the battle of Wakefield (1460), where fell
a great part of the Anglo-Irish nobility and gentry ; and
the duke was taken and beheaded on the battlefield. The
' In 1461 the following black rents were paid : —
To O'Conor of Offaly from Meath and Kildare, £80.
To O'Carroll of Ely from Kilkenny and Tipperary, £40.
To O'Brien of Thomond from Limerick, £40.
To Mac Garthy of Desmond from Cork, £40.
To Mac Murrogh of Leinster from Wexford, £40. Besides a salary of
80 marks (£53. 6«. 8<2.) from the Dublin exchequer.
To O'Neill tram Lecale and Louth, £60 : with a collar of gold from the
king. — (Gilbert, Viaerojft, 376.) (Multiply by 16 for present value.)
Chap. XIV. DURING THE WARS OF THE ROSES
841
very next year, however, witnessed the triumph of the
Yorkists ; and the duke's eldest son was proclaimed king
of England as Edward IV., the first king of the house of
York (1461). It is almost needless to say that during this
king's reign Ireland fared nothing better than before ; for
he had too much home business on his hands to attend to
anything else.
The Geraldines both of Desmond and Kildare, were
now in high favour, while the Butlers were in disgrace.
These two factions enacted a sort of miniature of the
wars of the Roses in Ireland. Sir John Butler, the
young earl of Ormond, a Lancastrian, landed with a body
of English soldiers, and was joined by his kinsman
Edmund Mac Richard Butler. Then there was open war
between the Desmonds and the Butlers. Ormond cap-
tured Waterford and took the son of the earl of Desmond
prisoner. 'But afterwards they on both sides ordained
to deside their variances by sett batle ; and so they have
donne, meeting each other with an odious ireful counte-
nance.' This battle was fought in 1462 at Pilltown isi
Kilkenny, where the Butlers were defeated and 400 or 500
of their men killed.' As a curious illustration of how
completely those Anglo-Irish families had adopted the
Irish language and customs, it is worthy of mention that
the ransom of Mac Richard Butler, who had been taken
prisoner in the battle, was two Irish manuscripts, the
Psalter of Cashel and the Book of Carrick. A fragment
of the Psalter of Cashel is still preserved in the Bodleian
Library in Oxford, and in one of its pages is written a
record of this transaction.^ The contest between these
two great Anglo-Irish factions continued for long after;
the Desmonds had the upper hand for some time, but the
Ormonds ultimately regained their position of equality.
Thomas the eighth earl of Desmond — the Great Earl
as he was called — was appointed lord deputy in 1463 under
his godson the young duke of Clarence, the king's brother,
' Annalg of Ireland, by Mac Firbis, Irish Aroh. MUoeU. vol. L
P- 247 : see also Fov/r Masters, 14(52.
^ Fow Mastert A..D. 1462, p. 1021 and notes.
842 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Paw IIL
who, thougli appointed lord lieutenant for life, never
came to Ireland. Desmond was a great favourite with the
king, and he was well received by the Irish of both races.
Year by year his power and popularity increased ; the
king continued to shower favours on him ; and he became
the greatest and most powerful man of his family that
had yet appeared. The Irish annalists describe him as
favouring learning, and bountiful to the clergy and to all
learned in Irish, such as poets and antiquaries. His love
for learning is shown by the fact that he founded the
college of Youghal, which was richly endowed by him
and his successors ; also a university in Drogheda ; but
this latter project fell to the ground for want of funds.
It appears that, notwithstanding the Statute of Kil-
kenny, the number of Irish dwelling within the Pale had
been greatly on the increase ; which no doubt alarmed the
government; for we find that in 1465 several feeble
measures were passed by the Dublin parliament to make
them conform to English customs. Every Irishman dwel-
ling in the Pale was to dress and shave like the English,
and take an English surname : — from some town, as Trim,
Sutton, Cork ; or of a colour, as Black, Brown ; or of
some calling, as Smith, Carpenter, &c. — on pain of forfei-
ture of his goods. Another and more mischievous measure
forbade ships from fishing in the seas of Irish countries,
because the dues went to make the Irish people prosperous
and strong. But the worst 'enactment of all was one
providing that it was lawful to decapitate thieves found
robbing ' or going or coming, having no faithful English-
man of good name or fame in their company, in English
apparel.' And whoever did so, on bringing the head to
the mayor of the nearest town, was licensed to levy a good
sum off the barony for his own use.* This really put it in
the power of any rascal who needed money to behead the
first Irishman he met, pretending that he was a thief, and
to raise money on the head. But here we may make an
observation similar to that made at page 297. The act
was aimed at Irish thieves ; but we must not assume that
« Gilbert, Viceroys, pp. 382-3.
Chap. XIV. DURING THE WARS OF THE ROSESi
813
it was framed with the rancorous intention of setting the
colonists to kill Irishmen. The real fact was that the
Pale was now in a hopeless state of disorder — swarming
with marauders — which the authorities were quite power-
less, and probably not very anxious, to repress ; and this
measure was the reckless or despairing act of an imbecile
and corrupt government, who, unable to afford protection
to the community, and not looking very nicely into the
consequences, deputed to individuals the duty of protecting
themselves by private violence.
With all the earl of Desmond's popularity he was
unable to restore tranquillity to the distracted country.
He was defeated in open fight (1466) by his own
brother-in-law O'Conor of Offaly, who took him prisoner
and confined him in Carbury Castle in Kildare ; from
which however he was rescued in a few days by the
people of Dublin. Neither was he able to prevent the
septs from ravaging the Pale; and he was forced to
purchase peace from O'Brien of Thomond by granting
him a part of Tipperary and the whole of Limerick, with
a black rent of 60 marks yearly jfrom the people of
Limerick city.*
The Great Earl was struck down in the midst of his
career by an act of base treachery under the guise of law.
He was first replaced in 1467 by John Tiptoft earl of Wor-
cester— the butcher as he was called from his cruelty —
who came determined to ruin him. There has been much
difference of opinion as to Tiptoft's motives; but there
seems no reason to doubt the correctness of the account
subsequently given by Desmond's grandson in a memorial
to the English council.' According to this the Great Earl
had let fall some imprudent words regarding the queen,
who never forgave him for it, and who influenced the king
to appoint Tiptoft in his place. Tiptoft, soon after his
arrival, acting on the secret instructions of the queen,
* Four Masters, A.D. 1466.
* Written in the Irish language ; it was translated at the time for
the council, and this old translation is given in Careto Papers. 1576 to
las'?, Introd. OT.
344 TIIE PERIOD OF THE INVASION PAnr 111.
caused the earls of Desmond and Kildare to be arrested ;
and in a parliament held at Drogheda had them attainted
for exacting coyne and livery, and for making alliance
with the Irish by fosterage and other ties, contrary to the
Statute of Kilkenny. Desmond was at once executed,
and his two infant sons were also killed by order of
Tiptofb. Kildare was pardoned and set at liberty ; and
Tiptoft, having accomplished what he came for, returned
to England in the following year. This was all done
without the knowledge of the king, who was very indig-
nant on becoming aware of it. As for Tiptoft, he was
himself, three years later on, beheaded by the earl of
Oxford, whose father ' the butcher ' had executed some
years before.
CHAPTER XV
POYNINGS' LAW
The accession, in 1485, of Henry VII., who belonged to
the Lancastrians, was the final triumph of that great party.
The preceding king, Richard III., was son of the Irish
favourite Richard duke of York ; and the news of his
defeat and death at Bosworth Field was received by- the
Irish with dissatisfaction. At this time all the chief state
offices in Ireland were held by the Geraldines ; but as
the new king felt that he could not govern the country
without their aid, he made no changes, though he knew
well they were all devoted Yorkists. Accordingly the
great earl of Kildare, who had been lord deputy for several
years, with a short break, was still retained.
But the Yorkists continued to be the favourites in
Ireland, where the people still retained a fond memory
of the government of Duke Richard ; and accordingly when
the young impostor Lambert Simnel came to Ireland (1486),
and gave out that he was the Yorkist prince Edward earl
of Warwick, he was received with open arms, not only by
the deputy, but by almost all the Anglo-Irish — nobles,
clergy, and people. The Butlers and the St. Laurences
Chap. XV. POYNINGS' LAW
815
alone among the nobles remained loyal to the king. And
although the young Prince Edward himself was at this
very time a prisoner in London, and was publicly exhibited
there by the king in order to expose the fraud, still the
Irish maintained that he was a counterfeit, and that they
had the real prince in Ireland. But the city of Waterford
rejected Simnel and remained steadfast in its loyalty,
whence it got the name of Urbs Intacta, the ' untarnished
city.' ... !
After a little time an army of 2,000 Germans came to
Ireland to support the cause of the impostor ; and he was
actually crowned as Edward VI. by the bishop of Meath,
in Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin, in 1487, in presence of
the deputy Kildare, the archbishop of Dublin, and a great
concourse of Anglo-Irish nobles, ecclesiastics, and officers,
all of whom did homage to 'King Edward VI.,' and
renounced their allegiance to Henry VII.
But this foolish business came to a sudden termination
when Simnel was defeated and taken prisoner in England.
The whole Irish government were involved in the con-
spiracy ; and now, when the imposture was laid bare,
Kildare and the others sent a humble message to the king
to acknowledge their error and to crave his pardon. The
king, dreading their power if they were driven to rebellion,
took no severer steps than to send over Sir Richard
Edgecomb as a special commissioner, to lay down condi-
tions of pardon and to exact new oaths of allegiance.
Edgecomb, having administered the oaths at Kinsale, in
1488, and having visited Waterford, where he stayed for a
short time and commended the people for th^ir loyalty,
landed at Dublin. After much negotiation and bickering,
the earl of Kildare and the other chief lords took the oath of
allegiance. Then there was a solemn religious ceremony
of thanksgiving for the reconciliation ; after which Sir
Richard entertained the lords at a banquet; and as a
present from the king and a token of pardon and goodwill
he hung a chain of gold round the earl of Kildare's neck.
Although the king had pardoned these nobles, yet he
kept a watch over them ; and the year following (1489) he
84'3 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt IIL
invited them to meet him in London. Soon after their
arrival he entertained them at a splendid banquet in
Greenwich ; and although his manner was kind, yet they
felt humiliated and crestfallen, for one of the waiters who
attended them at table was their idoHsed 'prince Lambert
Simnel.
A little later on reports of new plots in Ireland reached
the king's ears ; whereupon, in 1492, he removed Kildare
from the office of deputy, and put in his place Walter
Fitzsimons, archbishop of Dublin. At the same time Sir
James Butler was made lord treasurer in place of Kildare's
father-in-law Sir Rowland FitzEnstace. The inhabitants
of the Pale had good reason to lament these changes.
Kildare was the only man able to keep down the Irish
living round the marches; and now, oftended at the
indignity put upon him, he withdrew his protection, and
straightway the septs rose up and burned and ravaged the
English settlements, especially Meath, without let or
hindrance.
The secret information given to the king was not
without foundation, for now a second claimant for the
crown, a young Fleming named Perkin Warbeck, landed
in Cork (1492), and announced that he was Richard duke
of York, one of the two princes that had been kept in
prison by Richard III. He stated that he had escaped
from the Tower, though the story generally believed then
and since was that both princes had been murdered by
Richard. After the ridiculous termination of Simnel's
imposture one would think it hard for another to gain a
footing in Ireland. Yet Warbeck was at once accepted
by the Anglo-Irish citizens of Cofk, who espoused his
cause very warmly ; and they were in great joy when he
received an invitation from the king of France (with whom
Henry was then at war) to visit his court. He came to
Ireland more than once after this ; and nearly all the
Munster Geraldines, including Maurice the tenth earl of
Desmond, with a great many others of the leading southern
Anglo-Irish, both lay and clerical, were mixed up in this
conspiracy, and were often in arms in his favour. It was
Chap. XV. POYNINGS' LAW
847
chiefly the English colonists who were concerned in the
episodes of Simnel and Warbeck; the native Irish took
little or no interest in either claimant.
Meantime among the native tribes the quarrels, raids,
and battles went on as usual; for there was no central
government sufficiently strong to keep the restless chiefs
quiet. But though these broils are recorded by the Irish
annalists in minute and painful detail, they are quite un-
important, so far as the general destinies of the '■ nation
were concerned — many of them little more than faction
fights — and it is not necessary to notice them here ; they
will be found fully set forth in the pages of the Four
Masters.
During all this time the fusion of the two races went
on in spite of law ; and as generations rolled by, the
descendants of the old settlers became more and more
Irish in their habits, sentiments, and language- — became
quite incorporated with the natives and undistinguishable
from them in everything except their family names. This
was especially the case with the great and powerful family
of the Fitzgeralds in both branches. How strong the
tendency had become is shown by the fact that although
the great earl of Desmond had suffered for the alleged
crime of forming Irish alliances (p. 344), yet his son, James
the ninth earl, married a daughter of O'Brien of Thomond ;
and the Kildare family were, as we shall see in next
chapter, connected with many leading Irish families.
The reception given to Simnel and Warbeck and the
secret information received by king Henry from his spies
convinced him that his Irish subjects were hopelessly
Yorkist in their sympathies, and that they were ready to
rise up against his government at every favourable oppor-
tunity. He might have attainted and executed the heads
of the disaffected families ; but this would leave the colony
open to the attacks of the Irish, and possibly ruin the
settlement. He came to the resolution, therefore, as the
best thing to be done under the circumstances, to lessen
the power of his Irish subjects by destroying the inde-
pendence of their parliament. With this object he
348 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part UI.
appointed Englishmen to the most important government
posts in Ireland ; and, in 1494, he sent Sir Edward
Poynings as lord deputy, with instructions to make such
changes as would bring Ireland more directly under the
power of the English parliament.
Poynings' first act was to lead an expedition to the
north against O'Hanlon and Magennis, who had given
shelter to some of the supporters of Warbeck ; and Kil-
dare, to prove his loyalty, accompanied him. While
Poynings was on this expedition, a rumour reached him
through one of the Ormonds — in all likelihood a false
rumour — that the earl was conspiring with O'Hanlon and
Magennis to intercept and destroy himself and his army ;
and news came also at this same time that Kildare's brother
liad risen in open rebellion, and had seized the castle of
Carlow. On this, Poynings patched up a hasty peace with
the northern chiefs, returned south, and recovered the
castle after a hard siege of ten days. But no steps were
taken against the earl till the meeting of parliament.
Poynings now applied himself to the main object of
his mission ; and for this purpose he convened a parlia-
ment at Drogheda in November 1494 : the memorable
parliament in which the act since known as ' Poynings'
law,' was passed. The following are the most important
provisions of this law : —
1. No parliament was in future to be held in Ireland
nntil the Irish chief governor and privy council had sent
the king information of all the acts intended to be passed
in it, with a full statement of the reasons why they were
required, and until these acts had been approved by the
Irish council,* and also approved and permission granted
under the great seal by the king and privy council of
England. This single provision is what is popularly known
as ' Poynings' law.' Thus the members of this Irish Par-
liament, whose fathers had forty years before boldly asserted
the absolute independence of the Irish legislature (p. 337),
now permitted themselves to be bullied into passing an
* Ball's Sift. Review of Irith Parliament, p. 243.
Chap. XV.
POYNINGS' LAW
349
act that quite destroyed their own independence! ; one of
the most discreditable acts ever passed by any legislature.
2. It was also enacted that all the laws lately made in
England affecting the public weal should hold good in
Ireland. This enactment referred only to English laws
then existing : it did not refer to the future, and, it gave
no power to the English parliament to make laws for Ireland.
3. The Statute of Kilkenny was revived and confirmed,
except the part forbidding the use of the Irish tongue,
which could not be carried out, as the language was now
used everywhere, even through the English settlements.
4. For the purpose of protecting the settlement, it
was made felony to permit enemies or rebels to pass through
the marches ; and the owners of march lands were obliged
to reside on them or send proper deputies on pain of losing
their estates.
5. The old exaction of coyne and livery was forbidden
in any shape or form.
6. Many of the great Anglo-Irish families had adopted
the Irish war-cries ; the use of these was now strictly for-
bidden.*
In this same parliament an act was passed attainting
the earl of Kildare and his adherents of high treason for
^various crimes ana misdemeanors, but mainly on account
ii of his supposed conspiracy with O'Hanlon to destroy the
deputy ; in consequence of which he was soon afterwards
arrested and sent a prisoner to England.
Up to this time the Irish parliament had been, as we
have said, quite independent ; it was convened by the chief
governor whenever and wherever he pleased ; and it made
its laws without any interference from the parliament
of England. Now Poynings' law took away all this
' The war-cry of the O'Neills was Lamh-derg abu, i.e. the Red-hand
to victory (^lamk, pron. lanv, a hand). That of the O'Briens and Mao
Carthys, Lamh-laidir abu, the Strong-band to victory (laidir, pron.
lander, strong). The Eildare Fitzgeralds took as their cry Crom abu,
from the great Geraldine castle of Crom or Groom in Limerick ; the
Earl of Desmond Shanit abu, from the castle of Shanid in Limerick.
Moat of the other chiefs, both native and Anglo-Lrish, had their several
cries. (Harris's Wa/re, ii. 163.}
850 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt HL
power and reduced the parliament to a mere shadow, en-
tirely dependent on the English king and council. But inas-
much as it was the parliajuent of the English colony only,
it mattered nothing to the great body of the Irish people
what became of it. No native Irishman could take part
in its proceedings ; and its laws were obeyed only within
the little strip called the Pale. All the rest of Ireland,
inhabited by the native Irish and ' degenerate English,'
was governed by the Brehon law and by old Irish customs.
It did not even represent the Pale, for it was entirely in
the hands of a few great nobles, who got any laws they
pleased passed ; the Geraldines or the Butlers, according
as the one or the other family had the upper hand. Ac-
cordingly, Poynings' law was of small consequence at the
time. But when, at a later period, English law was
made to extend over the whole country, and the Irish
Parliament made laws for all the people of Ireland, then
Poynings' law, which still remained in force, was often
selfishly misused by the English parliament, and was
felt by the people of Ireland to be one of their greatest
grievances.
During the whole time that this parliament was sitting,
the Warbeck party were actively at work in the south.
"When Warbeck landed in Munster in 1495 he and Des-
mond laid siege to Waterford; but Poynings marched
south to relieve the city, and by his aid the assailants were
repulsed : whereupon Warbeck sailed for Scotland. The
rest of his career belongs to English rather than to Irish
history. It is enough to say here that, not getting as much
support from Ireland as he had expected, he ultimately
retired to Cornwall ; and that in 1499 he was hanged at
Tyburn with John Walter mayor of Cork, his chief sup-
porter in that city.
The English rule in Ireland, which had been steadily
declining from the time of Henry II., owing to general
mismanagement and to the dissensions of the colonists,
attained almost its lowest point at the time of Poynings'
pai-liament. The Leinster settlement now was reduced to
the county Dublin, with portions of Kildare, Meath, and
Chap. XV.
POYNINGS* LAW
851
Uriel or Louth; and the English influence \ra8 almost
annihilated in the rest of Ireland. One of Poynings' en-
actments directed that the inhabitants of the marches of
those four counties should build a double ditch or wall six
feet high, on the boundary, from sea to sea, as a defence
against the Irish. Notwithstanding that black rents were
paid to the Irish chiefs all along the frontier, it was now
found necessary to complete this dike, which enclosed
what became known as the English Pale. It need hardly
be said that this proved but a poor protection, and that it
was often broken through. The Pale remained so circum-
scribed for many years, but afterwards became enlarged
from time to time.
CHAPTER XVI
GABRETT FITZGERALD THE GREAT EARL OF KILDARE
Garrett or Gerald Fitzgerald, who is known as the Great
Earl of Kildare, became the eighth earl in 1477. This
nobleman was more intimately allied with the Irish than
any of his ancestors. His sister Eleanora was married to
Conn O'Neill chief of Tyrone (father of Conn Bacach) :
and his children married into several other leading Irish
families. We have seen in last chapter that, although a
devoted Yorkist, he was retained as deputy by Henry VII. ;
that he joined in the Simnel conspiracy and was pardoned ;
that in 1492 he was removed from the deputyship; and
that he was attainted by the parliament of Poynings for
conspiring against that deputy. Though this last accu-
sation was nothing more than suspicion, he was sent to
England a prisoner. I
Hitherto Henry had endeavoured to govern Ireland
chiefly by English officials, and found good reason to be
dissatisfied with the result. He now wisely resolved to
try the experiment of governing through Kildare, who was
the most powerful nobleman in Ireland. Accordingly the
Great Earl, having been for some time in custody, waa
permitted in 1496 to defend himself before the king. But
852 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt tlT.
this was no easy matter, for he had made many enemies
in Ireland, and he was now to face a whole crowd of
accusers. One of the charges against him was that he
had sacrilegiously burned the cathedral church of Cashel ;
to which he replied, with a rough sort of simplicity, that
it was true enough, but that he would not have done so
only he thought the archbishop was in it. The archbishop
himself was present listening; and this reply was so
unexpectedly plain and blunt^ — the excuse being the
greatest aggravation of the crime — that king Henry, who
we have seen was disposed in his favour, burst out laugh-
ing. The king advised him to have the aid of counsel,
saying that he might have any one he pleased ; to which
the earl, having first obtained the royal pledge that he
should have any man he chose, answered that he would
have the best counsel in England, namely, the king
himself; at which his majesty laughed as heartily as
before. At last when one of his accusers exclaimed with
great vehemence : ' All Ireland cannot rule this man ! '
he ended the matter by replying : ' Then if all Ireland
cannot rule him, he shall rule all Ireland.' ^
Thus the Great Earl triumphed; and the king restored
him to his honours and estates, and made him lord lieu-
tenant of Ireland. But as a matter of precaution he
kept his eldest son Garrett or Gerald as a hostage in the
court for about seven years. The king's confidence was
not misplaced ; for earl Garrett during the remainder of
his life proved a loyal servant to the crown.
A little before this time (in 1491) a war broke out
between the O'Neills and the O'Donnells which was carried
on with great bitterness and with varying success for a
dozen years or so, causing terrible havoc and loss of life.*
* This story of the scenes at the earl's trial is considered by some as
an invention of one of Kildaie's Anglo-Irish Lancastrian enemies, to
torn him into ridicule by representing him as a simple half^savage
Irishman.
* The Irish historians relate that Conn O'Neill claimed tribute from
CDonnell, and wrote to him in Irish in the following terms : ' O'Donnell :
Send me my rent, or if you don't ' . to which O'Donnell promptly
wrote in reply : ' O'Neill : I owe ) on no rent, and if I did ' : where-
upon O'Neill flew to arms, and the war began.
Chap. XVL THE GREAT EARL OF KILDARE 853
Kildare took a part in many of these feuds ; and he made
several excursions time after time to the north, in support
of his brother-in-law Conn O'Neill. Indeed this restless
earl took as much delight in fighting for its own sake as
the most pugnacious of the Irish chiefs.
In 1498 Kildare convened a parliament, the first held
under Poyninga' act; in which the enactments against
Irish dress and manner of riding, and against absenteeism
were renewed: proprietors who left Ireland without
license were to forfeit half their property, which was to be
expended in providing defence against the Irish.
The most important event the Great Earl was ever
engaged in was the battle of Knockdoe, which came about
in this way. In the course of a quarrel between Mac
William Burke of Clanrickard and O'Kelly chief of Hy
Many, Burke had the upper hand and captured three of
O'Kelly's castles. Whereupon O'Kelly, no longer able to
withstand his powerful foe, applied for help to the earl of
Kildare. Burke had married the earl's daughter, and had
used her so ill that she was forced to leave hitn. Now
came the earl's opportunity to punish his son-in-law ; and
he had an excuse for interfering, inasmuch as Burke had
forcibly taken possession of Galway, contrary to the pro-
visions of its charter. He went very deliberately to work,
and enlisted on his side the native chiefs of almost the
whole north of Ireland except O'Neill, and also some of
the Anglo-Irish lords. On the other side Burke, knowing
what was coming, collected a considerable army, being
joiued by many of the native chiefs of the south,.among
others O'Brien of Thomond, Macnamara, O'Carrqll, and
others ; and he awaited the approach of his adversary on
a low hill called Knockdoe — the hill of the battle-axes —
about eight miles from Galway.
The battle that followed — in 1504 — was the most ob-
stinate and destructive fought in Ireland since the inver-
sion, with the single exception of the battle of Athenry.
The southern men, who were far outnumbered by the
earl's forces, held the field against great odds for several
nours; but in the end they suffered a total overthrow.
A A
854 ITHE PERIOD OP THE INVASION Part lit
The loss sustained by the vanquished army has been
Variously stated, but the lowest estimate makes it 2,000 ;
and the other side also suffered very severely. The victors
encamped on the battlefield for twenty-four hours ; and
the next day Galway and Athenry opened their gates to
the earl.
Though the battle of Knockdoe was the result of a
private quarrel, and though many of the Anglo-Irish were
engaged on both sides, yet it was chiefly Irish against
Irish — north against south — one of those senseless battles
by which the Irish strengthened their enemies by slaughter-
ing each other. It was considered to have done great
service to the English cause by weakening the power of
the Irish chiefs ; and accordingly King Henry rewarded
Kildare by making him a knight of the Garter.
On the accession of Henry VIII., in 1509, the Great
Earl was retained in the government as lord justice ; and
soon afterwards he was made lord deputy. The next
year (1510) he set out on an expedition which did not end
so well for him as the battle of Knockdoe. He marched
into Munster against some of the southern septs, with an
army of the Irish and English of Leinster, and a small
body of troops under O'Donnell lord of Tirconnell. In
South Munster he met with no serious resistance, and
took several castles, wasting and depopulating the whole
country as he went along. He now turned north to the
county Limerick, where he was joined by the Munster
Geraldines under the son of the earl of Desmond, and by
some of the Mac Carthys ; and crossing the Shannon near
Castleconnell, prepared to make a raid on Thomond,
O'Brien's country.
Meantime an army had been collected to oppose him
.by O'Brien, Burke of Clanrickard, and the Macnamaras —
the earl's old opponents at Knockdoe ; and they encamped
for the night so close that the men of both armies could
hear each others' voices from camp to camp. In the
morning the earl, seeing that matters looked unpromising,
marshalled his army for retreat, and attempted to reach
Limerick by a short cut; but O'Brien fell on them aa
Chap. XVL THE GREAT EARL OP KILDARE 855
they were crossing the bog of Monabraher near the city,
and routed them, with the lose of a great many of the
earl's best men. The remnant of the army saved them-
selves by flight; and O'Brien returned in triumph with
abundant spoils.
This defeat, however, did not check the wwlike activity
of the earl. Two years later (1512) he crossed the Shannon
at Athlone,took Roscommon, and devastated a large extent
of country. Shortly after this he went north, captared
the castle of Belfast, and plundered the Glens of Ajitrim,
the Scottish Mac Donnells' district. The following year,
1513, he swept through both north and south, plundering
Ulster to Carrickfergus and Munster as far as the lakes of
Killarney.
He next made an unsuccessful attempt to take
O'Carroll's castle of Lemyvannan, now Leap in the present
King's County, near Roscrea; and retiring to collect
more forces to renew the siege, he was taken ill, and after
a few days died at Athy in 1513.
This extraordinary man, who occupied the foremost
place in the affairs of Ireland in his day, is described by
Stanihurst as ' of tall stature and goodly presence ; very
liberal and merciful ; of strict piety ; mild in his govern-
ment ; and passionate, but easily appeased.' And the
Four Masters in recording his death say that * he was a
knight in valour, and princely and religious in his words
and judgments.'
CHAPTER XVn
GiEBETT OGE FITZGERALD, NINTH EARL OF KILDAEP
After the death of the Great Earl of Kildare his son
Garrett Oge (the young) was appointed lord justice by the
Irish council, and a little later on lord deputy by the king.
The new deputy followed in the footsteps of his father.
The O'Moores of Leix, the O'Reillys of BrefheyV and the
OTooles of Wicklow, having risen in rebellion and ravaged
AA 2
856 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Past III.
the English settlements, he defeated them all in 1514,
desolated their lands, and killed the chiefs of the O'Reillys
and O'Tooles, with many of their minor chiefs — sending
Shane O'Toole's head as a present to the lord mayor of
Dublin; and he captured after a week's siege in 1516
O'Carroll's castle of Leap, which had baffled his father. In
the same year he marched to Clonmel, which was surren-
dered to him ; after which he returned to Dublin.*
Turning his arms next against the north, he took by
storm the castle of Dundrum (1517), which the Irish had
some time before taken from the English. Then defeat-
ing and making prisoner Magennis lord of Iveagh, he
captured and burned the castle of Dungannon, and over-
ran the whole district. In the same year he again defeated
the O'CarroUs and demolished their stronghold of Garry-
castle in the present King's County.
This career of uninterrupted success excited the jealousy
of some of the other Anglo-Irish lords, especially the
Butlers, the hereditary foes of his house. Pierce Butler
earl of Ormond — Pierce Roe (the Red) as the Irish called
him — though his wife was Kildare's sister, employed every
means in his power to turn the king ag(iinst him : and the
lady was still more bitter than her husband. But Kildare
counteracted all these schemes so skilfully, that for a long
time his enemies were unsuccessful ; till at last Ormond
managed to gain the ear of Cardinal Wolsey, then in the
full swing of his great power. Through his influence
Kildare was summoned to England, in 1519, to answer
charges of enriching himself from the crown revenues, of
holding traitorous correspondence with the Irish enemies,
and in general of ' seditious practices, conspiracies, and
subtle drifts.'*
Soon after his arrival in England, Thomas Howard
earl of Surrey was, at Wolsey's instance, sent to Ireland as
lord lieutenant (1520). He had scarcely landed when he
had to employ himself in a thoroughly Irish fashion. He
marched fortli against Conn (Bacach) O'Neill, prince of
* Four Matten and Ware's Ann. 1614, 1616.
■ Ware's Ann. 1£19 ; Ca/iem Facers, 1676 to 1588, Iiitrod. zzzviiL
Chap. XVU. GARRETT, NINTH EARL OP KILDARE 857
the O'Neills of Tyrone, who had suddenly invaded the
English settlements of Meath : but O'Neill, not caring to
wait for the encounter, retreated to his Ulster fastnesses,
whither Surrey could not follow him. This chief made his
peace soon after, acknowledging the king as his sovereign,
and binding himself to be faithful for the future : and the
king sent Surrey a chain of gold for him as a token of
pardon and friendship.^
Surrey's next proceeding was to make a much needed
peace between the earls of Ormond and Desmond, who had
been actively keeping up the old enmities and feuds of
their families. Aided by Ormond he again (1521) marched
against some of the Irish septs, the O'Moores of Leix,
the O'Carrolls of Ely, and the O'Conors of Offaly, who had
given trouble by threatening or rising against the English
settlements ; and he burned their com and destroyed every-
thing that came in his way. He took O'Conor's castle of
Monasteroris ; but O'Conor obstinately refused to come to
terms, saying he would make no peace till the English were
driven from the country.^
About this time there arose great disturbance in the
south. James the eleventh earl of Desmond, in a lawless
mood, invaded, in 1521, the territories of two powerful chiefs
of the Mac Carthys — Cormac Oge and Mac Carthy Reagh
— and continued to waste and ravage in spite of all ex-
postulation. At length the two chiefs, uniting their forces,
turned on him and gave him battle at Moume Abbey or
Ballinamona between Mallow and Cork, and iftterly routed
him. Two thousand of his men were slain — among them
being several of his own kinsmen ; and he himself barely
escaped by a hasty flight from the field.
In the end Surrey intervened and brought them to
terms of peace. In his letter to Wolsey he says of these
two chiefs — the Mac Carthys : — ' They are two wise men,
and I find them more conformable to good order than some
Englishmen here ' ; and he goes on to say ' I have motioned
them to take their lands and to hold them of the king's
grace [instead of by their own old law of tanistry], and
» Carew Paj>ers, 1516 to 1574. p. 15. « Ibid. p. 20.
858 THE PEEIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt IH.
iJiey will be content to do so, so they may be defended.
I know divers other Irishmen of like mind.' '
Surrey, however, had other business in hands besides
war. From the very day of his arrival he applied himself
most industriously to collect evidence against the earl of
Kildare ; taking down vague rumours arid accusations of
every kind, aided all through by Pierce Roe of Ormond.'
During all this time Kildare was detained in England
attending the king's court, for he was never treated like a
person in disgrace ; and he had no suspicion of the under-
hand work going on behind his back in Ireland.' If he
had been brought to trial it would have been impossible
to convict him ; for though there were plenty of charges
. there was no proof. Yet his enemies had influence enough
to delay his regular trial and acquittal. Meantime he
married Lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter of the marquis of
Dorset, a near relative of the king, which stopped for the
time all further proceedings against him.
Surrey at last became heartily tired of his mission.
He began to see that these Irish wars were interminable.
lie succeeded, indeed, in putting down for the time every
rebellious movement, though he seldom had the satisfac-
tion of defeating the Irish in battle, as they always re-
treated before him to their inaccessible bogs, forests, and
hills. But he produced no permanent results ; and after
all his efforts to tranquillise the country, it continued as
disturbed as ever. He grew sick in mind and sick in
body; and besought the king for leave to retire. This
was at last granted ; and he returned to England in the
end of 1521 after a stay of nearly two years.
One of the ever-recurring feuds between the O'Neills
and the O'Donnells broke out in 1522, and attained such
magnitude as almost to deserve the name of civil war.
The chief of the O'Neills, Conn Bacach, who had been
inaugurated three years before, made a great gathering,
determined to march into Tirconnell and bring the
O'Donnells under thorough subjection. Besides his own
' Carew Papers, 1515 to 1574, p. 16.
« Ibid. pp. lU, 12, la. • Ibid. p. 15.
Chap. XVII. aAERETT, NINTH EARL OF KILDARE 859
people of Tyrone, lie was joined by Mac William Burke
of Clanrickard, and by several of the Irish septs of Con-
naught and Munster. He had also a party of the Mac
Donnells ; and large contingents of both the English and
Irish of Leinster, who took his side out of affection for
the Geraldines ; for it will be remembered that Conn
Bacach's mother was sister of the Great Earl of Kildare
(p. 351). With these powerful auxiliaries at his back he
began to make preparations for his expedition.
To oppose this great muster O'Donnell had an army
very much smaller, composed merely of his own people of
Tirconnell ; but what he wanted in numbers he made up
in generalship. He posted his little army at the danger-
ous pass of Portnatrynod on the river Foyle, near Lifford,
thinking that O'Neill would make that lus way westward
into Tirconnell. But O'Neill taking a more southerly
route arrived at the castle of Ballysbannon in Tirconnell
before O'Donnell knew anything of his movements, and
captured that and some other strongholds in the neigh-
bourhood. As soon as O'Donnell was made aware of this,
he sent a party eastward and southward under his son
Manus to desolate Tyrone, O'Neill's territory, while he
himself made his way south-west through the Gap of
Barnesmore in pursuit of O'Neill, whom however he did
not overtake. Meantime O'Neill, in retaliation of Manas
O'Donnell's raid, crossed the Finn northwards and harried
and spoiled a large part of Tirconnell, after which he
pitched his camp at Knockavoe hill near Strabane.
O'Donnell, not finding O'Neill, returned with his son
Manus through Barnesmore, and halted in the neighbour-
hood of Knockavoe. O'Neill's Connaught and Munster
auxiliaries had not yet come up ; they had paused in their
march to lay siege to Sligo Castle, which they found more
diflBcult to take than they had anticipated, for it was obsti-
nately defended by some of O'Donnell's people. And now
O'Donnell, fearing that if he waited for all his enemies to
join muster they would overwhelm his little army, resolved
to be beforehand with them, and planned a bold attack on
O'Neill's camp.
ceo THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pact Tit
Marching silently in the depth of night, he took
O'Neill by surprise ; and almost before the sentinels were
aware of how matters stood, the two armies were fighting
furiously in pitch darkness in the midst of the camp.
After a long and fearful struggle, in which men found it
hard to distinguish friend from foe, the O'Neills were routed
with a loss of 900 men ; and O'Donnell took possession of
the camp, with an immense quantity of booty. Making
no delay, he next marched rapidly back again through
Bamesmore to Sligo. The besiegers here, having heard of
what had taken place at Knockavoe, sent to the victorious
chief to sue for peace ; but such was their terror of him
that they broke up camp before the messengers had time
to return, and fled in a panic clear out of danger.'
This battle of Knockavoe, which was one of the bloodi-
est ever fought between the Kinel Connell and Kinel Owen,
did not end the quarrel. Kildare tried hard to make
peace ; but in spite of his efforts the war continued for
many years afterwards, causing quite as much ruin and
misery among the poor country people as any of the ordi-
mary wars of the English invasion.
Let us now return to Earl Garrett. When Surrey went
back to England in 1521, Pierce Roe earl of Ormond,
Kildare's old enemy, was appointed lord deputy. The
chief use he made of his power was to advance his own
interests and to injure Kildare, several of whose castles he
took and destroyed. But while he was still deputy, Kildare
was permitted to return to Ireland in 1523, and, as might
have been expected, the feud now blazed up wifh tenfold
fury ; so that the king had to send over commissioners to
investigate the dispute. Their decision was favourable to
Kildare ; they found that Ormond had been guilty of
exacting coyne and livery, and of other misdemeanors ; and
they removed him from his post in 1524, and made his
triumphant rival deputy in his place.^ At the installation,
which was a grand ceremony, Kildare's cousin Conn Bacach
O'Neill bore the sword of state before him.'
• Four Masters, 1522, where this war is related in detail.
• Carew Papers, 1516 to 1574, pp. 32 to 35. • Ware, Ann. 1584.
Chap. XVIL GAERETT, NINTH EARL OF KILDARE
861
But now Kildare got exposed to danger from another
quarter. His kinsman James earl of Desmond had
foolishly entered into correspondence with the king of
France to bring about an invasion of Ireland, engaging to
join the French forces with 10,000 Irish troops. But he
was a mere tool in the hands of the French monarch, who
had no other object in view than to frighten and distract
the English. When King Henry heard of this he was
mightily incensed, and forthwith summoned Desmond to
London. But Desmond knowing well what was in store
for him, refused point blank to go ; whereupon Kildare as
lord deputy got orders to arrest him. Kildare led an
army southwards on this unpleasant mission in 1524 ; but
Desmond eluded pursuit, and the deputy returned without
him to Dublin. It was afterwards alleged against him that
he had intentionally allowed Desmond to escape arrest,
which was probably true.
Kildare's enemies, especially the two most powerful,
Pierce Roe in Ireland and Wolsey in England, still kept
wide awake watching his proceedings and continually
sending damaging reports about him. They succeeded at
last so far as to have him summoned to England to answer
several charges : — that he had failed to arrest Desmond,
that he had formed affinities with the Irish enemies, that he
had hanged good subjects because they were friends to
Ormond, and that he had confederated with O'Neill,
O'Conor, and other Irish lords to raid Ormond's territories
while Ormond was deputy.' Accordingly Earl Garrett
proceeded to London in 1526, leaving his brother James
Fitzgerald of Leixlip in his place, who, however, was soon
removed, and Richard Nugent baron of Delvin was made
vice- deputy. -
There is no record that Kildare was ever brought to
trial ; but at his own urgent request he was examined by
the lords of the privy council. Wolsey began the pro-
ceedings with a bitter speech, accusing him of conniving at
the escape of Desmond ; and he was about to go on with
other charges, when he was interrupted by Kildare, who
' Ware, Ann. 1526.
862 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part III.
asked to be allowed to reply to the charges one by one as
they were made : — ' My lord chancellor, I beseech you
pardon me ; I am short witted, and you I perceive intend
a long tale. I have no scUoole trickes nor art of memory.
Except you hear me while I remember your words your
second process will hammer out the former.' This was
agreed to, and he began his defence with this speech : —
' It is good reason that your grace [Wolsey] beare the
niout-h of this chamber. But, my lord, those that put this
tale [about Desmond's escape] into your mouth have gaped
long for my wreck, and now at length for want of better
stuff are fain to fill their mouths with smoak. Cannot the
earl of Desmond shift but I must be of counsell ? Cannot
he be hid except I wink ? This is a doughty kinde of ac-
cusation which they urge against mee. You would not see
him, they say: — Who made them so familiar with mine eye-
sight ? Or who stood by when I let him slip, or where
are the tokens of my wilfull hoodwinking ? Oh, but you
sent him word to hewaiTe of you : Who was the messenger ?
Where are the letters ? My lords, either they have my hand
[writing] to shew, or can bring forth the messenger, or
were present at a conference, or privy to Desmond, or
somebody bewrayed it to them ; which of these parts will
they choose ?
' Of my cousin Desmond they may lye lewdly, since no
man heere can well tell the contrary. Touching myselfe,
I never noted in them either so much wit or so much
faith, that I could have gaged upon their silence the life of
a good hound, much lesse mine owne. I doubt not, if it
please your honours to oppose [i.e. sift] them as to how
they came to knowledge of these matters which they are
so ready to depose, but that you shall find their tongues
chayned to another man's trencher, suborned to say, sweare,
and stare the uttermost they can.
' But of another thing it grieveth mee, that your good
grace should bee so farre gone in crediting those corrupt
informers. Little know you, my lord, how necessary it is
not onely for the goveraoui's but also for every nobleman
in Ireland, so to hamper their vincible neighbours at dia-
CnAT XTIL OARRETT, NINTH EARL OF KILDARE 868
cretion, wherein if they wayted for processe of law they
might hap to loose their owne lives and lands without law.
You [in England] heare of a case as it were in a dreame^
and feele not the smart that vexeth us [in Ireland]. In
England there is not a meane subject that dare extend his
hand to fillip a peere of the realm. In Ireland, except
the lord have cunning and strength to save his owne, and
sufficient authoritie to racke theeves and varletts, hee
shalle find them swarme so fast, that it will bee too late to
call for justice.
* As touching my kingdome* (my lord) : I would yon
and I had exchanged kingdomes but for one moneth, I
would trust to gather up more crummes in that space,
then twice the revenues of my poore earldome ; but you
are well and warme, and so hold you and upbraide not me
with such an odious storme. I sleepe in a cabbin, when
you lye soft in your bed of downe ; I serve under the cope
of heaven, when you are served under a canopy ; I drinke
water out of a skull [helmet], when you drink [wine] out
of golden cuppes ; my courser is trained to the field, when
your jennet is taught to amble ; when you are begraced
and belorded and crowched and kneeled unto, then I finde
small grace with our Irish borderers, except I cut them oflf
by the knees.' ^
Campion, who reports this speech, goes on to say, ' The
cardinall perceived that Kildare was no babe and rose
in a fume from the council table, committed the earle
[back to the Tower], deferred the matter till more direct
probations [proofs] came oat of Ireland.'
Meantime things began to go on very badly in Ireland,
The baron of Delvin had neither the influence nor the
strong hand of the great Geraldine: and all round the
Pale the chiefs, both Irish and Anglo-Irish, began to give
trouble. O'Conor of Offaly, the most powerful of them, a
friend of Kildare, carried off in a sudden raid in 1528,
a great prey of cattle from the Palesmen ; whereupon
Delvin, who was too weak to punish him in any other
way, stopped his ' black rent ' when it became due. This
' Campion's Bist. of Irel. ed. 1809, p. 164.
8C4 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt IH.
enraged O'Conor and made matters worse. A conference
was arranged between him and Delvin at Rahan in King's
County : and while the parley was going on a party of
O'Conor's followers who had been lying in ambush suddenly
rushed out, attacked the baron's people, several of whom
were killed in the fray, and carried oflf the baron himself
captive.*
This outrage caused intense alarm and indignation ;
and Pierce Roe — now the earl of Ossory, having lately
changed his title — was appointed vice-deputy. He exerted
himself to obtain the release of Lord Delvin : but O'Conor,
knowing his own strength and the weakness of the govern-
ment, took a high stand, and insisted on the restoration of
his black rent and the payment of ransom for the im-
prisoned baron as conditions of his release: to which
Ossory was forced to agree.
These disturbances were laid at the door of the earl of
Kildare, who was openly accused by his enemies in London
of having instigated O'Conor and others to attack the
Pale. And it was also stated that he had sent his
daughter, the wife of the baron of Slane, to stir up his
Irish friends against the vice-deputy, whose lands were
now pillaged on all sides by the Geraldines.^ Yet he was
all this time allowed to retain his post of lord deputy.
And when the king proposed that he should be removed,
Wolsey opposed it, not indeed through love for Kildare ;
but he dreaded that if the earl were removed his numerous
friends in Ireland would combine and destroy all the
English of the Pale.^
But Kildare's extraordinary influence, popularity, and
good fortune again prevailed : he was released and restored
to favour and confidence. As to the deputyship, a middle
course was adopted: Sir William Skeffington was ap-
pointed deputy in 1629, and Kildare was sent with him to
Ireland to advise and aid him.* It was easy to foresee that
this arrangement would not last long : for Kildare was too
high and proud to act as subordinate to any English
> Carem Papert, 1516 to 1574, p. .39. , • Ware's Ann. 1528.
■ Cariw Papers, 1515 to 1674, pp. 40, 41. ♦ Ibid. pp. 144-5.
Chap. XVn. GARRETT, NINTH EARL OF KILDARE 8G5
knight. But for some time they worked harmoniously
together, attacking and reducing several of the most
turbulent of the Irish chiefs.
O'Neill and O'Donnell still continued at enmity ; and
now O'Donifell adopted a new plan of assailing his adver-
sary. He sent a message to the deputy, announcing
himself King Henry's liege subject, and asking for the pro-
tection of the English against O'Neill. And as O'Neill had
about the same time begun to threaten the English settle-
ments, the deputy led an expedition against him in 1531,
accompanied by Kildare and Ossory. Kildare evidently
joined the expedition to save appearances ; for it is not to
be supposed that he was earnest in taking part in a war
on Conn O'Neill his cousin and friend, who had borne the
sword of state at his installation seven years before.
There had been before this time jealousies and bicker-
ings between Skeffington and Kildare ; and while they
were in the north the old enmity between Kildare and
Ossory almost broke out into open war. So this expedi-
tion, led as it was by divided commanders who hated each
other heartily, was not likely to be very formidable.
Having been joined by O'Donnell, they wasted part of
Monaghan and demolished some of O'Neill's castles ; but
on the appearance of O'Neill himself with his army, they
did not wait to be attacked, but retreated southwards and
separated to their several homes. The enmity between
Kildare and the deputy at last broke out openly ; and
after much mutual recrimination the earl proceeded to
England in 1532 and laid his case before the king. The
result was that Skeffington was removed, and the earl be-
came deputy once more.
As Wolsey was now dead, there was no single enemy
that Kildare feared ; and lie used his great power un-
sparingly. He removed Archbishop Allen from the
chancellorship, and put George Cromer archbishop of
Armagh in his place. He drew around him the most
powerful of the Irish chiefs, and gave one of his daughters
in marriage to O'Conor of Offaly, and another to O'Carroll
tanist of Ely. He ravaged the temtory of the Butlei-s in
»66 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part IH.
Kilkenny ; and at his instigation his brother James Fitz-
gerald and his cousin Conn O'Neill entered Lonth — a part
of the Pale — burned the English villages and drove away
the cattle.* In 1533 he laid siege to Birr castle, which had
been some time before taken from his son-in-law O'Carroll ;
but here he received a gunshot wound in the thigh from
which he never aft«r fully recovered.
All these proceedings were eagerly watched and re-
ported with exaggeration by Kildare's enemies ; and at
last the Dublin council, one of whom was the deposed
chancellor archbishop John Allen, sent (in 1533) the master
of the rolls, whose name also was John Allen, with three
detailed reports to the king and to the English chancellor,
Thomas Cromwell.
In these reports they describe the miserable disordered
state of the country, which they attribute to the frequent
change of deputies, to the constant imposition of coyne
and livery, black rents, and other exactions; above all to
the vast power and privileges in the hands of the great
Anglo-Norman lords — especially Kildare, Ossory, and
Desmond — and to their continual quarrels. They state
that the Pale, where alone the English language, dress,
and customs were used, was only twenty miles long, and
that the English settlers, driven from their homes by
violence and oppression, were fleeing from the country,
their places being taken by the Irish, so that the Pale was
likely in a little time to become like the rest of Ireland.
They express their opinion that neither Kildare nor Ossory
should be appointed deputy on account of their continual
dissensions ; and as no other Irish lord would be obeyed,
they recommend the appointment of an Englishman. They
wind up by telling the king that reformation should begin
with his own subjects : — ' When your grace has reformed
your earls, English lords, and others your subjects, then
proceed to the reformation of your Irish rebels.'^ All
through these reports they direct particular attention to
Kildare's misdeeds; and in addition to this they gave
' Ware, Ann., and Four Masters, 1532.
' Carew Papers, 1615 to 1674, pp. 60-2.
Chap. XVTI. GARKETT, NINTH EABL OF KILDARE 867
Allen secret instructions to make heavy charges against
him to the king.
The result was that for the third time Kildare was
Bumraoned.to England by the king, to give an account of
his government. There is some reason to silspect that he
contemplated open rebellion and resistance ; for now he
furnished his castles with great guns, pikes, powder, &c.,
from the government stores in the Castle of Dublin,
although Allen the master of the rolls expressly prohibited
him in the name of the king. At any rate he delayed
obeying the order as long as he could. But at last there
came a peremptory mandate which admitted of no further
evasion or delay ; and the earl, with a heavy heart, set
about preparing for his journey.
The Geraldines had become thoroughly Irish. They
were always engaged in war, exactly like the native chiefs,
they spoke and wrote the Irish language, read and loved
Irish books and Irish lore of every kind, kept bards,
shanachies, and antiquaries, as part of their household ;
and intermarried, fostered, and gossiped with the leading
Irish families. They were as much attached to all the
native customs as the natives themselves; and when
Henry VIII. 's schism and the Reformation came, they were
active and faithful champions of the Catholic religion.
When we add to all this that they were known to be of an
ancient and noble family, which told for much in Ireland,
we have a sufficient explanation of the well-known fact
that the native Irish were rather more attached to those
Geraldines than to their own chiefs of pure Celtic blood.
CHAPTER XVin
THE REBELLION OF SILKEN THOMAS
When the lord deputy, Garrett Oge Fitzgerald, made up
his mind to go to England in obedience to the king's
mandate, he decided to leave his son, the young Lord
Thomas, as deputy in his place. Accordingly, in the
838 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part III.
presence of the council at Drogheda, where the membera
then (1534) happened to be sitting, he proceeded to delivfer
up the sword of office to the young nobleman, and addressed
him in these words : —
' Son Thomas : You know that my sovereign lord the
king hath sent for me into England, and what shall betide
me God knoweth, for I know not. But however it falleth,
I am now well stept in years; and so I must in haste
decease, because I am old. Wherefore, insomuch as my
winter is well near ended, and the spring of your age now
buddeth, my will is, that you behave so wisely in these
your green years, as that with honour you may grow to
the catching of that hoary winter in which you see your
father fast faring.
' And whereas it pleaseth the king his majesty, that
upon my departure here hence I should substitute in my
room such a one for whose government I could answer :
albeit I know your years are tender, and your judgment
not fully rectified; and therefore I might be with good
cause reclaimed from putting a naked sword in a young
man's hand ; yet forsomuch as I am your father I am well
contented to bear that stroke with you in steering your
ship, as that I may commend you as your father and correct
you as my son for the wrong handling of your helm.
' And now I am resolved day by day to learn rather
how to die in the fear of God, than to live in the pomp of
the world. Wherefore, my son, consider that it is easy to
raze and hard to build ; and in all your affairs be ruled by
this board, that for wisdom is able to lesson you with
sound and sage advice. For albeit in authority you rule
them, yet in counsel they must rule you. My son, although
my fatherly affection requireth my discourse to be longer,
yet I trust your good inclination asketh it to be shorter.
And upon that assurance, here in the presence of this
honourable assembly, 1 deliver you this sword.'^
Thus in tears the earl spoke his last farewell ; and
committing his son and the members of the council to
I Holinshed's Chronicles. See Coz, p. 226.
Chap. XVIU. TIIE REBELLION OP SILKEN THOMAS 869
God, he set sail for England. On his arrival he was
arrested on the ground that he had furnished his own
castles from the king's stores (p. 367) ; and he was sent
to the Tower, there to await his trial on this and other
charges still more serious. He might possibly have got
through his present difficulties, as he had through many
others, but for what befell in Ireland, which will now be
related.
Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, who was afterwards known as
' Silken Thomas,' from the gorgeous trappings of himself
and his retinue, was then in his twenty-first year, brave,
open, and generous. But the earl his father could not
have made a more unfortunate choice as deputy ; for there
were in Dublin, and elsewhere within the Pale, plotting
enemies who hated all his race ; and they led the young
man to ruin by taking advantage of his inexperience, and
of his unsuspicious disposition.
With the object of driving him to some rash, illegal
act, they treacherously spread a report that his father had
been beheaded in England, and that all his relations in
Ireland were to be treated in the same manner. The
impulsive young lord fell easily into the trap. Having
first confederated with several of the Irish chiefs, who
eagerly entered into his plans, he proceeded to Dublin.
With his brilliant retinue of seven score horsemen he rode
through the streets to St. Mary's Abbey; and entering the
chamber where the council sat, he openly renounced his
allegiance, and proceeded to deliver up the sword and robes
of state.
Archbishop Cromer, his father's friend (p. 365), now
lord chancellor, besought him with tears in his eyes to
forego his purpose ; but at that moment the voice of an
Irish bard was heard from among the young nobleman's
followers, praising the Silken Lord, and calling on him to
avenge his father's death. Casting the sword from his
hand, he rushed forth with his men to enter on that wild
and hopeless struggle which ended in the ruin of himself
and his family. The confederates proclaimed that they
rose against the king in defence of the Catholic religion ;
B B
370 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Paht IIL
which appears to have been a mere watchword, for religion
had no InBuence on their conduct.
Collecting a large force of the Irish septs of the Pale,
Lord Thomas led them to the walls of Dublin. The ciby
had been lately weakened by a plague, so that the in-
habitants could offer no effectual resistance ; and on promise
of protection for themselves and their property, they
admitted him. He then laid siege to the castle, which
still remained in the hands of the authorities, and to which
several of the leading citizens, including archbishop Allen,
had retired on the first appearance of danger. ^
The archbishop, having good reason to dread the Geral-
dines, for he had always been bitterly hostile to them, at-
tempted during the siege to make his escape by night in a
vessel that lay in the Liffey. But the vessel got stranded at
Clontarf ; and the archbishop, who had taken refuge at
Howth, was discovered by the rebels, dragged from his
bed, and brought half-naked to Artaine to the presence
of Lord Thomas and his uncles. There has been some
difference of opinion as to how far the young nobleman was
responsible for what followed ; but tihe account given by
Cox, who was no friend either to the Geraldines or to the
Irish, may probably be regarded as correct. Cox states
that the archbishop threw himself on his knees and im-
plored mercy. Lord Thomas, having compassion for him,
but assuming an appearance of sternness, turned aside,
saying, in Irish, * Take away the clown,' meaning that he
was to be taken away in custody. But the servants, wil-
fully misconstruing their master's words, murdered the
archbishop in the very act of supplicating mercy.' This
fearful crime, which would have sealed the fate of the
rebellion even if there had been any chance of success,
brought a sentence of excommunication against Lord
Thomas and his followers. A copy was sent to the earl in
the Tower, but it is doubtful if he ever saw it ; for on first
* Cox, History cf Irelamd, ed. 1689, p. 234. The very words used
by Lord Thomas, who spoke in Irish, as reported by Cox and others,
are, * Bew uaim an bodacA,' literally, * Take the clown away from me.'
These, obviously, did not mean violence to the archbishop.
Chap. X\TIL THE REBELLION OP SILKEN THOMAS 871
hearing of his suns rebellion, he took to his bed, and
being already sick of palsy, he died in a few days.
Lord Thomas now tried to induce his cousin James
Butler, son- of the earl of Ossory, to join him ; but that
young lord rejected the proposal with scorn. Whereupon,
having left a sufficient force to carry on the siege of
Dublin Castle, he invaded and burned the county Kilkenny
— ^the earl of Ossory's territory. He sent also for aid to
the Pope, and to the Emperor Charles V., but from these
nothing ever came but promises. Meantime his men made
no impression on Dublin Castle ; and the citizens having
received an encouraging message from the king, and tired
of the disorders of the besiegers, turned on them, and
killing some, chased the rest outside the walls. Lord
Thomas returning soon after from his Kilkenny raid,
attempted to enter ; but the citizens closed their gates and
repulsed his assaults. Then there was a truce, and Lord
Thomas raised the siege (1534).
As time went on, O'Conor Faly, O'Moore, and O'Carroll
— ^three powerful chiefs — joined his standard ; and he had
on his side also O'Neill of Tyrone, and O'Brien of Tho-
mond. But many other Irish chiefs, in and around the
Pale as well as elsewhere, refused to commit tiiemselves to
so desperate an enterprise. He and O'Conor Faly now
invaded Meath, and burned Trim, Dunboyne, and the
surrounding territory.
Soon after the breaking out of the rebellion, when news
reached the king, he appointed Sir William Skeffington
lord deputy. But Skeffington delayed coming over for
several months ; and when at last he arrived with a small
company of 500 men, he was ill — so ill that he could do
nothing ; and the rebels wasted and burned the English
settlements without opposition.
The new deputy remained inactive during the whole
winter. But in March 1535 he laid siege to the castle of
Maynooth, the strongest of Fitzgerald's fortresses, which
was defended by 100 men. After a siege of nine days,
during which the castle was battered by artillery, then f&t
the first time used in L*eland, he took it by storm, except
B B 2
872 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part IIL
the great keep ; and the garrison who defended this, now
reduced to thirty-seven men, seeing the case hopeless,
surrendered, doubtless expecting mercy. How they fared
we learn from the report of the deputy himself: — * Their lives
[were] preserved by appointment, until they should be pre-
sented to me your deputy, and then to be ordered as I and
your council thought good. We thought it expedient to
put them to execution, as an example to the others.' ' Lord
Thomas heard the news of the fall of his castle as he was
on his way from Connaught with an army of 7,000 men to
<^ relieve it ; and from that day his followera gradually de-
serted him, all but sixteen, with whom he fled south and
took refuge with his friend O'Brien of Thomond. He soon
returned, however, and with the aid of the Irish chiefs got
together another army ; and the war, and ruin, and havoc
went on as before. But the fall of MayB(5oth damped the
ardour of his adherents ; and one of his best friends,
O'Moore of Leix, was induced by the eaxl of Ossory to
withdraw from the confederacy.
But though O'Moore was now on the side of Skeffington,
his sympathies seem to have been still with the rebels ; and
the war was prolonged by a feeling of pity for the young
nobleman. In some encounters with the government
troops, his own immediate followers were spared, while
those of his confederates were killed without mercy ; and
on one occasion the O'Moores and O'Dempsies, having cap-
tured Lord Thomas himself, let him escape."
But now the report went round that the Irish chiefs of
Munster, with O'Neill and O'Donnell, were preparing to
invade the Pale. So messengers were sent in all haste to
England to the king to report how matters stood. They
complained bitterly of SkeflBngton's inactivity, and gave a
frightful account of the state to which the rebellion had
brought the English Pale — ^three-foarths of Kildare and a
great part of Meath burned and depopulated ; while to
add to the ruin and misery of the people, the plague was
raging all over the country. In consequence of these
representations, Lord Leonard Grey, marshal of Ireland,
* Cianw Paptn, 1616 to 1674, j>. 66. * Ibid. p. 71.
Chap. XVHL THE REBELLION OP SILKEN THOMAS 878
was directed to place himself at the head of the army,
and to take more active measures. He made short work
of the rebellion. Lord Thomas's remaining allies rapidly
fell off; and seeing now that all was lost, he and his faith-
ful friend O'Conor sent offers of submission. O'Conor was
received and pardoned ; and Lord Thomas delivered himself
up to Lord Grey, on condition that his life should be spared.*
It cost the government :g40,000 to crush this rebellion,
equivalent to about half a million of our present money.
The king was displeased that any promise of safety
had been held out to Lord Thomas. He wrote a growling
sort of letter to the deputy, in which he says : ' If he
[Lord Thomas] had been apprehended after such sort as
was convenable to his deservings,^ the same had been
much more to our contentation ; but nevertheless we give
you hearty thanks for your pains.'
Lord Thomas was conveyed to England (1585) by Lord
Leonard Grey, and on his arrival was formally arrested on
his way to Windsor and imprisoned in the Tower. Here
he was left for about eighteen months neglected and in
great misery. There is extant a pitiful letter written by
him while in the Tower to an old servant in Ireland,
asking that his friend O'Brien should send him £20 to buy
food and clothes : — ' I never had any money since I came
into prison, but a noble, nor I have had neither hosen,
doublet, nor shoes, nor shirt but one ; nor any other gar-
ment but a single frieze gown, for a velvet furred with
budge [i.e. instead of a velvet furred with lambskin fur],
and so I have gone wolward [shirtless] and barefoot and
barelegged divers times (when it hath not been very warm) ;
and so I should have done still, but that poor prisoners of
their gentleness hath sometimes given me old hosen and
shoes and old shirts.'
Immediately on the arrest of the young lord, and before
' Carem Papers, 74 ; Fow Masters, 1535.
• Brewer, the editor of the Ca^em Papers, says the king meant if ho
had been slain : bat the meaning might be, if he had been taken with-
out any promise of mercy. Carem Papers, 1576 to 1588, Introd. p. liiL
See also Four Masters, A.D. 1535, p. 1421. The State Papers and the
Annals make it quite plain that be was promised his life would be spared.
874 THE PERIOL OP THE INVASION Pakt lit
it became known in Ireland, his five uncles, having been
invited to a banquet in Kilmainham by Grey, now lord
deputy in succession to SkeflRngton, were, on their arrival,
seized, manacled, and marched prisoners to Dublin ; though
it was well known that three of them had openly discounte-
nanced the rebellion. But the king was determined, so far
as lay in his power, to exterminate the Kildare Geraldines,
root and branch ; and notwithstanding the promise made
to Lord Thom&s and that his uncles had held aloof, the
whole six were executed at Tyburn in February 1537.
And this was the end of the rebellion of Silken Thomas,
which had been brought about by the villainy of his enemies,
and during which, though it lasted little more than a year,
the county Kildare was wasted and depopulated, and the
whole Pale, as well as the country round it, suffered
unspeakable desolation and misery. It was a reckless
enterprise, which no man of sense or capacity would have
entered upon, for there never was the remotest chance of
success ; the only palliation was the extreme youth and
inexperience of Lord Thomas Fitzgerald.
Notwithstanding the efforts of King Henry VIII. to
extirpate the house of Kildare, there remained two direct
representatives, sons of the ninth earl by I^ady Elizabeth
Grey. Gerald (or Garrett) the elder, then about twelve
years of age, succeeded to the earldom on the death of
Lord Thomas. At the time of the apprehension of his uncles
(in 1535) he was at Donore in Kildare, sick of small-pox.
His faithful tutor Thomas Leverous, afterwards bishop of
Kildare, fearing with good reason for his safety, wrapped
him up warm in flannels, and had him secretly conveyed
in a cleeve or basket to Thomond, where he remained
under the protection of O'Brien. The other son, then an
infant, was in England with his mother. The reader
should be reminded that the lord justice Leonard Grey
was uncle to these two children, for their mother Lady
Elizabeth was his sister.
Great efforts were now made to discover the place of
young Gerald's retreat ; and as he had been declared an
Chap. XVIIL THE REBELLION OP SILKEN THOMAS 875
enemy to the state, certain death awaited him if he should
be captured. But he had friends in every part of Ireland,
for the Irish, both native and of English descent, had an
extraordinary love for the house of Kildare ; and priests
and friars preached day by day in favour of young Gerald.
By sending him from place to place — now secretly at night,
now in open day, disguised — his guardians managed to
baffle the spies that were everywhere on the watch for him.
Sometimes the Irish chiefs that were suspected of harbour-
ing him were threatened, or their territories were wasted
by the lord justice, and sometimes large bribes were offered
to give him up ; but all to no purpose.
When Thomond became an unsafe asylum, he was sent
by night to Kilbrittain in Cork, to his aunt Lady Eleanor
Mac Carthy, widow of Mac Carthy Reagh and sister of
tJie boy's father, who watched over him with unshaken
fidelity. While he was under her charge, Manas
O'Donnell, who had lately succeeded his father as chief of
Tirconnell, made her an offer of marriage ; and she con-
sented, mainly, it is believed, for the sake of securing a
powerful friend for her Outlawed nephew. In the middle of
June 1537 the lady travelled with young Gerald all the way
from Cork to Donegal, through Thomond and Connaught,
escorted and protected everywhere by the chiefs through
whose territories they passed. The illustrious wayfarers
must have been well known as they travelled slowly along,
yet none of the people attempted to betray them ; and the
journey was performed without the least accident.
Some suppose that the deputy, though pretending to
be very active for his nephew's arrest, connived at his
escape ; and as a matter of fact this was one of the charges
subsequently brought against him. Whoever reads his
letters however will be convinced that he was in downright
earnest in his efforts to arrest the boy ; and judging from
his own words he was not particularly scrupulous in his
methods. Early in 1539 he had arranged t6 meet at a
fiiendly conference O'Neill and O'Donnell, who promised to
bring Gerald: but they never came. Soon afterwards
Grey writes to the king that if they had brought the boy
376 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt IH.
they would have to leave him * behinde theim quick or
dede.'i
When Lady Eleanor arrived at O'Donnell's mansion,
she found there Conn Bacach O'Neill, who was a near rela-
tive of the youth (p. 351) ; and without delay she and
O'Donnell were married. About this same time O'Neill,
O'Donnell, O'Conor of Connaught, O'Conor Faly, O'Brien
of Thomond, and several other powerful southern chiefs,
with some of those of Leinster, entered into a confederacy,
commonly known as the First Geraldine League (1537), to
take up arms if necessary, with the object of restoring the
young nobleman to his rightful place. And they appointed
a guard of twenty-four horsemen to wait continually on him
both as a protection and as a mark of honour. This confede-
racy greatly frightened the government oflScials in Dublin,
who expressed their anxiety to have the young Geraldine
alive or dead : the lord chancellor wrote from Dublin : — * As
long as this young traitor and his company be abroad we
shall never be in security here ' : and Lord Grey tried in
vain to induce O'Neill and O'Donnell to surrender him.
At the end of two years. Lady Eleanor, having reason
to believe that her husband was about to betray Gerald to
the government, had him placed, disguised as a peasant,
on board a vessel which conveyed him to St. Malo. On
the Continent he was received with great favour and dis-
tinction. He was however dogged everywhere by spies
greedy to earn the golden reward for his capture ; but he
succeeded in eluding them all. And he was pursued from
kingdom to kingdom by the English ambassador, who in
vain demanded from the several sovereigns that he should
be given up. He found his way at last to Rome to his
kinsman Cardinal Pole, who gave him safe asylum, and
educated him as became a prince.
After many extraordinary vicissitudes and narrow
escapes, he was reinstated in all his possessions by Ed-
ward VL, in 1552 ; and in 1554 Queen Mary restored his
title, and he became the eleventh earl of Kildare.
' Gilbert's Account cf Facaimiles cf Iruh NatioTial M88. p. 140.
In this book Dr. Gilbert has publislied several of Grey's letters. See
also Ca/rew Pcupert, 1516 to 1574, p. 149.
Chaf. XIX. GENERAL SUBMISSION 877
CHAPTER XIX
GENERAL SUBMISSION
Matters had now (1535) come to such a pass in Ireland that
the English government had to choose one or the other of
two courses : either to relinquish the country altogether, or
to put forth the strength they had hitherto held back, and
reassert their sovereignty. Henry VIII. with his strong
will determined to attempt the restoration of the English
power, and as we shall see, succeeded.
A few years before the time we have now arrived at,
King Henry VIII. had begun his quarrel with Rome, the
upshot of which was that he threw off all allegiance to the
Pope, and made himself supreme head of the church in
his own kingdom of England. He made little or no
change in religion; on the contrary he did his best to
maintain the chief doctrines of the Catholic church, and
to resist the progress of the Reformation. All he wanted
was that he, and not the Pope, should be head. Ireland
was almost free from such dreadful scenes as were taking
place in England during this struggle, probably because it
was too remote to come much under his direct notice.
As Henry was now head of the church in England, he
was determined to be head in Ireland also ; and to the
deputy Skeffington and the earl of Ossory, the latter of
whom had all along taken sides with the king, was in-
trusted the task of bringing the Irish to acknowledge his
spiritual supremacy. They employed as their chief eccle-
siastical agent George Brown, formerly an Augustinian
friar in London, now by the king's appointment archbishop
of Dublin in succession to the murdered archbishop John
Allen. Brown went to work with great energy ; but he
was vehemently opposed (1535) by Cromer archbishop of
Armagh ; and he made no impression on the Anglo-Irish of
the Pale, who showed not the least. disposition to go with him.
Seeing that so far his efforts resulted in failure, he
378 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Paut III.
advised the deputy Lord Leonard Grey, to convene a parlia-
ment in Dublin, hoping that it might influence the people to
follow the example of England. But when this parliament
had assembled (1536), an unexpected difficulty appeared.'
There were certain members called ' spiritual proctors,' re-
presenting the clergy, three from each diocese, who sat in
the Commons and like other members exercised the right of
voting. The proctors to a man opposed the new measure
— making the king head of the church — and it was found
impossible to carry it so long as they sat. So the parlia-
ment got rid of them altogether by deciding that their
office was merely to advise, and that they had no right to
vote, though they had exercised that right from time im-
memorial ; that they were in fact not members of parliament
at all.
Then after several sittings this year (1536) and the
next, the following measures were passed. The king was
to be supreme head of the church of JreJand. An oath of
supremacy was to be taken by all government otBcers, i.e.,
an oath that the king Mias spiritual head of the church ; and
anyone who was bound to take it and refused was adjudged
guilty of treason. There were to be no appeals to the
Pope in ecclesiastical matters. The clergy were to pay to
the king, instead of to the Pope as heretofore, firstfruits,
i.e., the first year's profits of any bishopric or parish or
living; and also the twentieth part of the subsequent
yearly income. All religious houses, except a few in some
remote districts, were suppressed, the. monks were turned
out on the world without any provision, and the property
was either kept for the king or given to laymen: little
or none was returned to the church.
As to lay matters. An act was passed under which
the king seized all lands belonging to absentees, which
applied to the duke of Norfolk and to several other great
English absentee proprietors. The English language,
apparel, and manner of living were to be used by all
subjects ; and the old laws against marrying and fostering
with the Irish were revived. Black rents and all other
tributes paid by the colonists to the Irish were abolished;
Cha». XIX. GENERAL SUBMISSION
879
inasmuch as the English forces — it was declared — were
now sufficient to protect the Pale.
Among all those subjects of legislation the question of
supremacy -was considered the most important. It was the
test of loyalty. All who took the oath were deemed loyal ;
all who refused disloyal. Yet on this very question the
act was an entire failure ; for the great body of the people
took no notice of it whatever.
The disturbances created by the rebellion of Silken
Thomas were still kept up in some parts of the country by
the chiefs of the Geraldine league. To break up this
league was now the main object of the deputy Lord Grey,
especially io subdue the two most powerful southern mem-
bers, O'Brien and the earl of Desmond ; and he entered on
the task with great energy. At this time the Shannon
was spanned, a little below Killaloe, by O'Brien's Bridge,
which was fortified at the ends with great solid towers.
This bridge had long been a source of trouble, as it enabled
the O'Briens, who had built it, to cross the Shannon when-
ever they pleased and plunder the English of Limerick and
Tipperary. Several unsuccessful attempts had been made
to destroy it ; but now (1536) at last the deputy succeeded
through the treachery of Donogh O'Brien, son of the chief
of Thomond. This man was married to the daughter of the
earl of Ossory ; and he took the part of the government
against his own father. On condition that he should get
for himself the strong castle of Carrigogunnell, he led the
deputy's men to the bridge by an undefended path hitherto
unknown. The first tower was taken by assault, after
which the garrison retired across the river and the bridge
was destroyed. After this the deputy proceeded to Carrigo-
gunnell, took it after a brave defence, executed all its
defenders on the spot, and then gave it up to the traitor
Donogh.^
This is a proper place to observe that one of the well-
recognised and most efi'ectual means of reducing the Lish
chiefs was setting them by bribes to war against each
other ; and in the very next year (1537) the Irish govem-
» Carew Peters, 1515 to 1574, pp. 107, 108.
880 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt UI.
ment urged the necessity of keeping a supply of money in
Dublin for this purpose : — ' Finally, because the nature of
Irishmen is such that for money one shall have the son to
war against the father, and the father against the child, it
shall be necessary for the king's grace to have always
treasures here as a present remedy against sudden rebel-
lion ' : ^ a record not creditable either to English or Irish,
and aptly exemplified in Gray's capture of O'Brien's
Bridge and Carrigogunnell.
Lord Grey next (in 1537) turned his arms against
O'Conor of Offaly, who was again in hostility, notwith-
standing his late submission, but who was at this time much
weakened by quarrels with his brother. He forced some of
O'Conor's sub-chiefs to join his expedition, and with their
help captured several castles, executing all their defenders ;
so that this chief, forced at last by sheer distress, submitted
and obtained pardon. He engaged not to exact any more
black rents, and he was permitted to hold his lands from
the crown according to English tenure. At this same time
the English recovered the castle of Athlone, which had
been taken from the English some time before ; a most
important stronghold, as it commanded the passage into
Connaught,
In the summer of the next year, 1538, the deputy,
attended by several lords of the Pale, as well as by O'Conor
and some other Irish chiefs, set out on a military progress
through the country south and west, during which he
received the submission of the chiefs as he went along,
and met with no resistance.'
In May of the year following, 1539, he proceeded north
against Conn Bacach O'Neill, who had lately been in
correspondence with several kings and chiefs, both foreign
and native, for a general rising in Ireland ; and he plun-
dered and wasted the country round Armagh, but spared
the city itself.
In the following August (1539) O'Neill and O'Donnell
made a hosting southward into Meath, intending to march
> StaU Papers : Henry VIII. pt. 3, p. 485.
• Carem Papers, 1515 to 1574, p. 145.
Chap. XIX. GENERAL SUBMISSION \ 881
to Maynooth and form a junction with the Geraldines.
They advanced however no farther than Tara, probably not
finding co-operation, from which they returned north,
sweeping before them the plunder of ike whole country.
But Grey pursued and overtook them at Lake Bellahoe in
Monaghan, and inflicted on them, encumbered as they were
with booty, a crushing defeat, killing 400 and recovering
all the spoils. The power of the northern chiefs was
greatly broken by this disaster, and continued weak for
many years afterwards.
At the close of the year (1539) the deputy undertook a
second journey into Munster, for another attempt to detach
O'Brien and the earl of Desmond from the Geraldine league.
As usual he received the submission of most of the chiefs,
both native and Anglo-Irish, through whose territories he
passed. But as to O'Brien and Desmond, he failed to
reduce them, and he had to return without accomplishing
the main object of the expedition. |
This Geraldine league, which was originally formed
for the restoration of Gerald Fitzgerald, seems to have
extended its aims ; and now contemplated the overthrow
of the English government in Ireland, and the ultimate
independence of the country. The chiefs expected foreign
aid, which never came. Failing this they made no serious
attempt to combine their own forces ; and the only result
was a number of detached raids, bringing ruin or death to
hundreds of poor people, but quite profitless for the main
purpose.
Lord Leonard Grey was an active and faithful servant
to his master the king. He was a Catholic, assenting,
however, to the king's supremacy ; but this seems to have
had no influence on his subsequent fate. He greatly broke
down the power of the northern chiefs ; nearly annihilated
the Geraldines ; and restored the English power in Ireland,
which had become almost extinct. But he was imprudent
and of a violent temper. By his reckless, high-handed con-
duct he made enemies everywhere, and put himself con-
tinually in their power. They carefully noted down all
his proceedings and sent reports to the long, some of them
882 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Pabt IIL
villainous concoctions, putting the very worst construction
on all his actions.^ At last they succeeded. He was re-
called in 1540 and brought to trial for treason, the chief
accusation being his alleged partiality for the Geraldines,
and allowing young Gerald Fitzgerald to escape ; and he
was executed as a traitor in 1541 : the end of many of the
most faithful servants of the Tudors.
There was not under the crown in those days, more
especially during this reign and that of Elizabeth, so
harassing, disagreeable, and dangerous a post as that of
Irish governor. Ireland — or that part of it under English
rule — was then a land of intrigue, jobbery, and corruption.
The deputy could not possiljly discharge his duty im-
partially in the midst of so many jarring elements without
making powerful enemies, who thwarted him in every
possible way, set spies on him, and sent unfavourable
reports to the king or queen, who was always too ready to
give ear to them. By these means many were ruined and
none escaped censure. Yet no sooner was a deputy re-
called than his place was filled up by some other eager
aspirant, doomed to be soon in his turn harassed, disgusted,
and anxious for recall. Much of the blundering of the
English government in Ireland, and much of the misfor-
tune of the country, arose from this double authority.
While many of the Irish governors were tyrannical, selfish,
and wrong in their mode of government, some were just
men, anxious for the amelioration of the country ; but they
were always liable to be thwarted by ignorant and mis-
chievous orders from London, where Irish affairs were not
understood; which interference often spoiled the best
measures of the best governors.
One of the greatest diflSculties the deputies had to con-
tend with was the want of money. The whole available
revenue of Ireland was only about :65,000,' which was
ridiculously small considering the resources of the country,
and was not nearly sufficient to cany on the war. * I have
been commanded to the field,* writes Sussex, ' and I have
not one penny of money ; I must lead an army to the field,
> Ca/rm> Papers, 1616 to 1574, pp. 164 to 171. * Ibid. p. 119.
Chap. XIX. GENERAL SUBMISSION 883
and I see not how I shall be victualled ; I must fortify,
and I have no working tools.' And this was the story of
every deputy. Money had to be sent over from England,
and the king was continually grumbling at the expense.
The soldiers had often to go without pay, and sometimes
they broke out into open mutiny.* On one occasion Lord
Grey set out for an expedition into O'Brien's country ; but
the men refused to cross the Shannon unless they got their
arrears, and the expedition had to be abandoned.^ The
Dublin council wrote to the king complaining that they
got as much trouble from their own mutinous soldiers as
from the Irish enemies.'
In reality, however, a large revenue was raised, though
the government got only £5,000 of it. The smallness of
this sum led the king to suspect that there was something
wrong. He ordered inquiry, and the result was given in
a long letter, written soon afber Grey's recall, by Robert
Cowley, master of the rolls in Ireland. After enumerating
the various sources of revenue, he showed why they pro-
duced so small a sum : scheming, embezzlement, and mis-
management everywhere. No accounts were kept ; and
while scores of knavish officials enriched themselves with-
out any check or fear of detection, the poor defenceless
people were trodden down and robbed, and the soldiers
were left without pay. But with characteristic negligence
as regarded Irish affairs, no serious steps were taken ; and
notwithstanding Cowley's exposure, this amazing state of
things was allowed to go on unchecked ; and the soldiers
starved, the people were plundered, and =the knaves
flourished as before.
On the recall of Grey in 1540, Sir William Brereton
was appointed lord justice, till a lord deputy should
be selected. A report now went round that there was to
be a rising of the septs living round the Pale, and that a
general muster of the Irish was appointed to take place at
Finnea in the north of Westmeath. Whereupon Brereton
hastily collected a motley army of eight or ten thousand
» Hamilton, Cal,p. 216, No. 36.
• Carew Papers, 1516 to 1674, p. 109. JHd. 118.
884 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Part HI.
men, which included not only the regular militia, but also
vast numbers of the professional classes — judges, bishops,
priests, peers, lawyers, and others.
On arriving at Fin^ea, however, he found no sign of
the Irish gathering — the whole story was probably an
invention; but, unwilling that they should have their
trouble for nothing, they 'concluded' — as Brere ton him-
self says — 'to do some exploit.' As O'Conor had lately
burned and spoiled some English settlements in his neigh-
bourhood, they turned into Offaly, ' and, encamping on
sundry plains, destroyed his (O'Conor's) habitations, corns,
and fortalices, as long as their victuals lasted' — i.e., for
twenty days. ' Albeit,' adds the lord justice, ' he (O'Conor)
remaineth in his cankerde malyce and ranker, and so do
all his confederates' (1540).
About this time the Irish chiefs showed a general dis-
position for peace, and the king was equally anxious to
receive them. The two great northern princes, O'Donnell
and O'Neill, were the first to make advances ; they wrote
in respectful terms to the king, who sent a gracious reply
to each. At this important juncture a sensible man — Sir
Anthony Sentleger — was by good chance appointed lord
deputy. He was all for a conciliatory policy, and he told
the king in a letter * I perceive them [the chiefs] to be
men of such nature that they will much sooner be brought
to honest conformity by small gifts, honest persuasions,
and nothing taking of them, than by great rigour.' Accord-
ingly he took full advantage of their present pacific mood ;
and by wise and skilful management he induced them to
submit, the greater number by persuasion, some few by more
or less compulsion. He led two separate "expeditions in
1540 against two troublesome Leinster chiefs, Mac Murrogh
of Idrone in Carlow, and Turlogh O'Toole of Imail in
Wicklow, burning and wasting their territories till he
forced them to come to terms ; but once they had submitted
he treated them kindly. The former renounced the old
title of Mac Murrogh and took the name of Kavanagh ;
and he agreed to hold his lands by the English tenure of
knight service.
Chaf, XIX. GENERAL SXJBMISSION 386
O'Toole was an eccentric old chief. He expressed a
wish to go to England to see the mighty king of whom he
bad heard so much, and to petition him for certain conces-
sions that Sentleger refused to grant. The deputy wisely
humoured him, and gave him £'20 to pay his way. He
was received kindly by the king, who granted all he asked ;
and he returned satisfied and loyal. O'Conor of Offaly,
with the example of Mac Murrogh and O'Toole before his
eyes, proffered submission and was gladly accepted ; and
several of his subordinate chiefs came in with him.
The earl of Desmond next asked for a conference, which
was granted (1541) ; but before this took place three hostages
had to be given up to him as a guarantee for his safety : —
the archbishop of Dublin, Sentleger's brother, and another.
For a great many years the Desmonds had claimed and
had been allowed the curious privileges of not attending
parliament and of not entering any walled town ; which
were conceded partly on account of the seventh earl's good
government of the southern counties, partly from the danger
and difficulty of the journey to Dublin, and in part also
on account of the treacherous seizure and execution of the
Great Earl by Tiptoft (p. 344). Now Sir James, the four-
teenth earl, made submission and renounced these privi-
leges.
The earl of Ormond had set up a claim to the earldom
of Desmond in right of his wife, who was the only
daughter and heir of the eleventh earl of Desmond ; and
this dispute was settled by arranging a cross marriage
between the children of the two earls. Afiber all these
affairs had been amicably settled, Desmond invited Sentleger
and Ormond to Kilmallock, his capital, where he enter-
tained them in royal style ; and, what was better still, he
gave thfem much sound advice regarding the management
of" Ireland. In a letter to the king, Sentleger describes
him as ' undoubtedly a very wise and discreet gentleman.'
From Kilmallock the deputy went to Limerick, where
he had a * parle with Obrian, who is the greatest Irishman
of this western land.' But the ' parle ' led to no immediate
result, for the deputy would not agree to some of the
c c
B86 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Piwr III.
chief's proposals ; and besides, O'Brien said he should con-
sult his people before submitting ; for although the captain
of a nation, he was still but one man. Three years later,
however, he made formal submission.
Hitherto the English kings, from the time of John, had
borne the title of Lord of Ireland. It was now considered
that a higher title would add weight to the king's authority ;
and it was resolved to confer on him the title of King of
Ireland. With this object a parliament was assembled in
Dublin on the 1 2th June (1 541 ) ; and in order to lend greater
importance to its decisions, a number of the leading Irish
chiefs — among others, Kavanagh, O'Moore, and O'Reilly —
were induced to attend it; and O'Brien of Thomond
yielded so far that he sent deputies to represent him. This
was the first parliament attended by native Irish members.
The earl of Desmond also, and several other Anglo-Irish
lords — some who had not come to a parliament for many
years, and some never before — attended. The presence ot
all these made the present parliament the most remarkable
yet held in Ireland. The Irish lords, and some also of the
Anglo-Irish, did not understand a word of English ; and
they were greatly pleased when the earl of Ormond trans-
lated into Irish for them the speeches of the lord chancellor
and the speaker.
The act conferring the title of King of Ireland on
Henry and his successors was passed through both houses
rapidly, and with perfect unanimity. It was hailed with
great joy in Dublin, for it gave promise of peace ; and on
the following Sunday Archbishop Brown celebrated a high
Mass with a Te Deum in solemn thanksgiving, before an
immense congregation.
The two most powerful chiefs of all still held back,
although they had been the first to propose submission in
the preceding year. At length O'Donnell announced his
intention to submit; and after some time Conn Bacach
O'Neill followed his example. These two, as well as the
earl of Desmond and several others of the great chiefs,
both Irish and Anglo-Irish, went to England in 1542, and
all were received at Greenwich most graciously by King
Chat. XIX. GENERAL SUBMISSION 887
Henry. O'Neill renounced his ancient title — * The O'Neill '
— and surrendered his territory to the king ; after which he
was created earl of Tyrone, and was permitted to hold his
lands direct from the crown. At his request his (reputed)
illegitimate son Ferdoragh or Matthew was made baron of
Dungannon, with the right to succeed to the earU!R>m of
Tyrone.
About the same time O'Donnell was promised to be
made earl of Tirconnell, though the title was not actually
conferred till a considerable time after. Murrogh O'Brien,
who had succeeded his brother Conor — the great O'Brien
(p. 385) — was created earl of Thomond in 1543; and his
nephew Donogh, he who had betrayed his father at O'Brien's
Bridge, was made baron of Ibrickan ; and Mac William
Burke, who is commonly known as Ulick-na-gann or
William of the Heads, was made earl of Clanrickard.
Every chief of any consequence in the whole country
submitted ; and the king on his part was gracious to all,
and bestowed honours and titles very freely. There was a
general acquiescence, chiefly brought about by the con-
ciliatory disposition and skilful management of Sentleger;
and the distracted country saw for the first time since the
invasion a prospect of lasting peace in the future.
It may be observed that this was the fourth general
submission since the first landing of the Anglo-Normans :
the first to Henry II. ; the second to King John ; the third
to Richard II. ; and this, the fourth, to Henry VIII., through
Sentleger. Tte first three were shams : the fourth was a
real submission. \
The chiefs not only submitted to the king's temporal
authority, but they also, to a man, acknowledged his
spiritual supremacy. This was included in the declaration
of submission signed by each individual.' It may be urged
m extenuation of their easy compliance on this score, that
the subject of spiritual supremacy had not been brought
much under notice in these countries up to that time ; the
chiefs hardly understood its full scope ; and they did not
think themselves the worse Catholics for renouncing the
» Caa-en; Papert, 1515 to 1574, pp. 183 to 195.
o c 2
388 THE PERIOD OF THE INVASION Paet IIT
supremacy of the Pope. It did not much disturb their
consciences, and it satisfied the king. Besides it was an
empty formality — mere ink and paper — and so no doubt
they considered it : they were not called upon to change in
any particular their creed or their mode of worship ; and
they still followed the ministrations of their clergy, who of
course wei e faithful spiritual subjects of the Pope.
But this spiritual submission, even such as it was, was
confined to the chiefs, who were only a few individuals.
The mass of the people made no such submission — knew
nothing of it ; and the attempt to impose on Ireland the
doctrine of the king's spiritual supremacy was — then, as
well as before and after — a failure.
With the career of Henry VIII. in England we have
no concern here : I am writing Irish, not English, history.
Putting out of sight the question of supremacy and the
suppression of the Irish monasteries, Henry's treatment of
Ireland was on the whole considerate and conciliatory,
though with an occasional outburst of cruelty. There was
indeed in his time a great deal of foolish and harassing
legislation regarding dress, language, customs, &c., all
aiming at an impossibility — ^^to anglicise the native Irish.
But he never contemplated the expulsion or extermination
of the Irish tribes to make room for new colonies, though
often urged to it by his mischievous Irish executive. These
officials were all for starving, burning, killing, and extir-
pating the natives, and bringing in English people in their
stead ; and they gave the king much bloodthirsty advice,
which he steadily disregarded. His policy, as carried out
by Sentleger, was thoroughly successful; for the end of
his reign found the chiefs submissive and contented, the
country at peace, and the English power in Ireland
stronger than ever it was before.' Well would it have
teen, for both England and Ireland, if a similar policy had
been followed in the succeeding reigns. Then our history
would have been very different; and the tragical story that
follows would never have to be told.
* Cusack's Keport, in Carem Pojpert (1515 to 1674), pp. 235 to 247.
889
PART IV
TEE PEBIOD OF IN8UBBECTI0N, CONFISCATION,
AND PLANTATION
i
(1547—1696.) I ,
There were four great rebellions during this period : — ^the
Eebellion of Shane O'Neill ; the Geraldine Rebellion ; the
Rebellion of Hugh O'Neill ; and the Rebellion of 1641 ;
besides many smaller risings. j
The causes of rebellion were mainly two : — First, the
attempt to extend the Reformation to Ireland : Second,
the Plantations, which, though the consequence of some
rebellions, were the cause of others. These and other
influences of less importance will be described in a general
way in the next chapter, and in more detail in those that
follow.
Whenever a rebellion took place, the invariable course
of events may be briefly summed up as : — Rebellion,
Defeat, Confiscation, Plantation.
The Plantations began immediately after the Confisca-
tion of Leix and Offaly (pp. 399, 435), and continued almost
without a break during the whole of this period — that is,
for a century and a half. " i
890 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Past IV.
CHAPTER I
NEW CAUSES OF STlilFE
If there had been no additional disturbing influences after
the reign of Henry VIII., it is probable that Ireland
would have begun to settle down, and that there would
have been no further serious or prolonged resistance. But
now two new elements of discord were introduced ; for
the government entered on the task of forcing the Irish
people to become Protestant ; and at the same time they
began to 'plant various parts of the country with colonies
of settlers from England and Scotland, for whom the
native inhabitants were to be expelled. The Irish on their
part resisted, and fought long and resolutely for their
leligion and their homes ; and the old struggle was intensi-
fied and embittered by religious rancour. The Plantations
succeeded, though not to the extent expected : the attempt
to Protestantise the Irish, though continued with deter-
mined persistency for three centuries, was a failure.
These two projects were either directly or indirectly the
causes of nearly all the dreadful wars that desolated this
unhappy country during the period comprised in the
present part of our history.
Two other evil influences also began to make them-
selves felt about this time.
The titles conferred by Henry VIII. on the native
chiefs, with the accompanying land grants, gave rise to
long and bitter disputes in the succeeding reigns. It was
commonly the acknowledged chief of the district at the
time who received the royal title. His successor, both in
title and in position as head, was, according to English
law, his eldest son or his next heir ; but according to the
Irish law of tanistry, that member of the family whom
the tribe selected was the person to succeed to the chief-
ship. This was mixed up with the question of land, a
further and a worse complication. According to English
law, the chief who relinquished his land to the king, and
^ t\y
Chap. I. NEW CAUSES OF STRIFE 891
to whom the king regranted it, became the owner, and
it would descend to his heir after his death. But accord-
ing to Brehon law, as the chief well knew, he had no
right of ownership ; and the person to succeed him in
possession was the tanist. Thus when this titled chief
died, English and Irish law came, in a double sense, into
direct antagonism ; and there was generally a contest, in
which the government supported the heir, and the tribe
the tanist. This was mainly the origin of the disturbances
among the O'Briens of Thomond and the O'Neills of
Tyrone, to be related in Chapt-er III. ; as well as of many
others.
The disturbing influence next to be mentioned was in
some respects the most general and far reaching of all.
Ireland was then, as it has always been, the weak point of
the empire in case of invasion from abroad : and there
was some truth in the old rhyme : —
He who would England win.
In Ireland most begin.
For some time before the accession of Elizabeth, and all
through her reign, there were continual rumours, both in
England and Ireland, of hostile expeditions from Spain
or France to Ireland. These rumours, some of which, as
we shall see, were well founded, generally caused great
terror, sometimes panic, on the pai-t of the government.
To provide against this danger, the government, in
dealing with the Irish people, might have adopted either
of two courses : — one a policy of reasonable conciliation,
governing them so as to attach them to the empire and
make them ready to rise in its defence; the other a
government by force, keeping them down to prevent them
from giving aid to an invader. The first was not only
possible but easy : — ' The policy of conciliation graciously
carried out would have been tie only wise alternative.' '
But the government deliberately chose the other, and
carried it out consistently and determinedly. And not
only did they rule by force but they made themselves
> Fronde, i?wt. 0/^ ^/(^. ed. 1870, z. 298.
892 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Part IT.
intensely unpopular by needless harshness. Even their
own colonists turned against them, and became some of
the bitterest and most dangerous leaders of rebellion. 80
odious was their treatment of the people that any invader,
no matter from what quarter, would have be-en welcomed
and aided : — ' The Irish were not to be blamed if they
looked to the Pope, to Spain, to France, to any friend in
earth or heaven, to deliver them from a power which
discharged no single duty that rulers owed to subjects.' '
The existence of this universal feeling of detestation is
found repeatedly set forth in the letters of officials as
published in the State Papers, so that it was perfectly well
known to the government : and * the hostility of the
English against the natives became a madness.' ^
There was here no room for half-hearted measures
If a chief, encouraged by the prospect of help from abroad,
rose in rebellion, it was not enough, as it would be under
ordinary circumstances, to reduce him to submission,
inflict reasonable punishment, and take guarantees for
future good behaviour. It was necessary to crush him
utterly; and such thorough precaution^ were taken as
that an invader should have neither help nor foothold in
the country. The chief was executed, or banished, or
brought prisoner to London ; and the people, who were
mostly blameless, were expelled or exterminated, and the
whole district turned into a desert.'
And so were the unhappy destinies of this country in
great measure shaped ; not by what was needed for the
protection and welfare of the people, but merely that
Ireland might be made unsuitable as a point of attack.
The views of the government on this point are exactly
expressed by the earl of Sussex, lord lieutenant, in a
letter to the queen, when he says that the possibility of
danger ought to be guarded against, ' not so much for the
• Froude, Hist, of Eng. ed. 1870, x. 262.
• Richey, Short History, p. 493.
■ Carew Papers, 1575-1588. pp. 220, 221 ; Spenser, View, ed. 1809,
p. 166. See also the end of Chap. XVI. infra for Carew's declaration of
policy, and for bis description of his operations in Munster.
Chap. L NEW CAUSES OF STRIFE
893
care I have of Ireland, which I often wished to be sunk in
the sea, as for that if the French shoald set foot therein,
they should not only have such an entry into Scotland as
her majesty could not resist, but also by the commodity of
the havens here, and Calais now in their possession, they
should take utterly from England all kinds of peaceable
traffic by sea, whereby would ensue such a ruin to Eng-
land as I am afraid to think on.' ' j
A disquieting agency less serious than any of the
preceding, but still a decided element of disturbance, was
the settled policy of the Tudors to anglicise the Irish people.
It would appear indeed that in the time of Elizabeth,
the government were more anxious to change the people's
language and dress than to change their religion. In the
Act of 1569 establishing free schools, the master should
be an Englishman ; and as not understanding one word of
the language spoken by the children, his first and main
effort would be, not to learn Irish himself, <(pr Irish was an
abomination to the government, but to teach his little
scholars to speak English — a thing impossible under the
circumstances — and then probably to instruct them in the
Protestant faith. And in the same parliament it was
ordained that in certain districts, all of them Irish speak-
ing, no clergyman should be appointed unless he could
speak English, where English could be of no use to him.
The persons contemplated in the act would be of course
Englishmen, who could not speak Irish : though Irish was
the only possible medium of communication.
To anglicise the people the government employed all
the agencies at their disposal, and employed them in vain.
Acts of parliament were passed commanding the natives to
drop their Irish language and learn English, and to ride,
dress, and live after the English fashion. The legislators
undertook to regulate how the hair was to be worn and
how the beard was to be clipped ; and for women, the
colour of their dresses, the number of yards of material
they were to use, the sort of hats they were to wear, with
many other such like silly provisions. There had been
' Carew Papers^ 1515-1574, p. 302, letter written llth Sept. 1560.
894 INSXjRRECTION, confiscation, plantation Pabt IV.
occasional legislation in the same direction in older times :
but the Tudors, with all their strong will and despotic
power, made a more determined attempt than any of their
predecessors. These laws were, as might be expected,
almost wholly inoperative ; for the people went on speak-
ing Irish, shaving, riding, and dressing just the same as
before. But like all such laws they were very exaspe-
rating, inasmuch as they put it in the power of any ill-
grained English resident to insult his Irish neighbours
without the possibility of redress ; and they were among
the causes that rendered the government so universally
odious in Ireland.
CHAPTER n
MUTATIONS OF THE STATE EELIGION
It will be convenient in this place to tell briefly how the
state religion fared in Ireland after the time of Henry
VIII.
King Henry died in 1547 and was succeeded by his
son Edward VI., then a boy of nine years old. His death
removed all check to the Reformation,- which was now
pushed forward vigorously in England by the young
king's protector the duke of Somerset, and by Archbishop
Cranmer.
In the fifth year of Edward's reign (1551), the chief
Protestant doctrines and forms of worship were promul-
gated in Ireland by Sir Anthony Sentleger. He did so
much against his will, not on account of any religious
scruples, but because he foresaw that this innovation if
attempted in good earnest to be carried out, would
obstruct and disturb the civil government of the country
and undo all his skilful work of pacification (p. 387) : —
'This measure may be fairly considered to have been
introduced as part of the established policy of assimilating
Ireland to England, without the slightest reference to the
feelings or wants of the people, or the propriety of the
innovation.' *
• Richey, Short History, p. 400.
Chaf. n. MUTATIONS OF THE STATE EELIGION
895
George Brown archbishop of Dublin exerted himself
to spread the new doctrine : but the movement was reso-
lutely opposed by the archbishop of Armagh, George
Dowdall, a man of the highest character ; whereupon the
lord deputy Croft, acting on the orders of the king and
council of England, deprived him of the primacy of all
Ireland, which had hitherto been held by the archbishops
of Armagh, and conferred it on Brown and his successors
in the see of Dublin (1552). On this, Dr. Dowdall left
the country and went to the Continent.
The destructive spirit of the Puritans of later times
began about this time to manifest itself among the English
soldiers. We find it recorded that the venerable monastery
of St. Kieran at Clonmacnoise was plundered by the
English of Athlone ; so that, as the Four Masters (1552)
express it, ' there was not left a bell small or large, an
image, an altar, a gem, or even glass in a window that
was not carried off.' But there was on the whole little
disturbance in Ireland on the score of religion during
Edward's short reign. The government oflBcials of Dublin,
whose religion was the religion of the king or queen for
the time being, adopted the new form of worship without
hesitation. But no serious attempt was made to impose
it on the general body of Catholics, either of Dublin or
elsewhere, and the Reformation took no hold on the
country.
Queen Mary, who succeeded Edward VI. in 1553,
restored the Catholic religion in England and Ireland.
Archbishop Dowdall was recalled and reinstated ; those
of the bishops who had conformed in Edward's reign were
removed, or anticipated removal by flight; and, in 1557,
the Irish parliament restored to the church the first fruits
and tenths. There was as little disturbance in Ireland
now as there had been on the accession of Edward ; for
the castle officials once again conformed without any
trouble; and the body of the people, being Catholic all
through, were not affected, by the change. The property
of the monasteries which had been confiscated by Henry
VIII. was not restored. On the contrary, those who held
896 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabi IV.
•
the ecclesiastical lands were now confirmed in possession
of them ; and the Catholic church in Ireland, though it
had full freedom, was very much poorer and weaker than
it had been before the suppression of the monasteries.
During Mary's reign Ireland was quite free from re-
ligious persecution. The Catholics were now the masters ;
but neither the Catholic authorities nor the Catholic
people showed any disposition whatever to molest the few
Protestants that lived among them. There were no insult-
ing proclamations; and Protestants were not forced to
attend Roman Catholic worship. Ireland indeed was re-
garded as such a haven of safety, that many Protestant
families fled hither during the persecutions of Mary's reign.'
On the death of Mary i6 1558, Elizabeth became
queen. Henry VIII. had transferred the headship of the
church from the Pope to himself; Edward VI. had
changed t]^e state religion from Catholic to Protestant ;
Mary from Protestant to Catholic : and now there was to
be a fourth change, followed by results far more serious
and lasting than any previously experienced. A parlia-
ment was assembled in Dublin in 1560, to restore the
Protestant religion ; and iir a few weeks, though after
much opposition and clamour, the whole ecclesiastical
system of Mary was reversed.
The firstfruits and tenths were again taken from the
church and given to the queen. The act of supremacy
was put in force: all clergymen and persons holding
government appointments were required to take the
oath declaring the queen spiritual head of the church ;
and those that refused were dismissed. Any person openly
maintaining that the Pope was spiritual head was liable
to fine and imprisonment ; and if he committed the offence
three times he was adjudged guilty of treason. The
regulations for forcing the Catholic people into Protestant-
ism were much more stringent and far reaching than had
been ever before experienced. The act of uniformity was
re-introduced, by which the use of the Book of Common
l^yer (the Protestant Prayer Book), was ordained ; and
' Ware's Annals, 1554, where several are named.
Chap. IL MUTATIONS OF THE STATE EELIGI^N 397
j
all persons were commanded to attend the new service on
Sundays under pain of censure and a fine of twelve pence
for each absence — about twelve shillings of our money.
How far these regulations were carried into practice will
be told as we go along.
The queen being by law now head of the Irish church,
was supposed to have the appointment of all the Irish
bishops. But as the English power reached pnly a small
part of the country, many bishops were appointed by the
Pope ; so that in most of the dioceses a regular succession
of Catholic bishops can be traced from the old Catholic
times to the present day. Those appointed by the queen
were, with few exceptions, men of a very unworthy stamp,
distinguished more for greed than for piety, who made it
their chief object, not to advance religion, but to plunder
their several dioceses.'
Wherever these new regulations were enforced, the
Catholic clergy had of course to abandon their churches,
for they could not hold them without taking the oath.
At the same time, as there was no adequate provision
made for the support of the new Protestant pastors, those
that were induced to come were poor, ignorant, and rude.
But the crowning folly of the government was exhibited
in the regulation that none were to be appointed except
those who could speak English, which in those days
meant that they could not speak Irish ; so that these new
ministers, not being able to make themselves understood,
went about as mere dummies among their parishioners.*
It came to this : that the government, while proscribing
one religion, rendered the ministration of the other im-
possible ; thus doing all that lay in their power to deprive
the people of religion altogether.
But the Catholic religion, though proscribed by law,
was well cared for. The priests, who had been turned out
' Abundant examples will be found in Harris's Ware'$ Bishopn: in
which see for instances pp. 416, 462, 484, 634, &c. See also Eichey, Short
History, .502.
* Ball, The Reformed Church of Ireland, p. 84 ; Spenser, Vlete, 138
to 142,
8S8 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paht IV.
of their parishes, and the inmates of the suppressed
monasteries who had been sent adrift on the world, especi-
ally the ' mendicant friars,' who lived on alms and cared
nothing for privations, went about among the people ; and
while they actively and successfully opposed the reformed
doctrines, they ministered to the people in secret and kept
alive the spirit and practice of religion. Meanwhile,
numbers of the churches being neglected, fell to ruin.
Half a century later Sir John Davies found them in ruins
all through the Pale. But in some places at least the
Catholic clergy must have gradually retumed,"or more
probably, never lett, for Davies writes (in 1607) that in
those parts of Ulster he visited, the churches were utterly
waste, and the incumbents were ' popish priests.'
In many places the new statute of uniformity was now
brought sharply into play. In Dublin fines were inflicted
on those who absented themselves from church ; and to
avoid the penalty, many went to Mass in the morning and
to church in the evening. But the churchwardens tried to
prevent even this by calling a roll of the parishioners at the
morning service.^ In Kilkenny lord justice Drury bound
the chief men to attend service with their wives and children
under a penalty of i^40.* And Sir Henry Malbie writes : —
* At this sessions [in Galway] a great number of male-
factors were indicted for a Solemn Mass they were at for
welcoming William Burcke.' '
This persecution prevailed however only in the Pale,
and in some few other places. In far the greatest part of
Ireland the government had no influence, and the Catholics
were not interfered with. Even within the Pale the great
body of the people took no notice of proclamations, the
law could not be enforced, the act of uniformity was a
dead letter, and the greater number of the parishes re-
mained in the hands of the priests.
It is worthy of mention, as illustrating the govern-
ment way of managing Irish aflairs in those days, that
' Ware, Annals, 1663.
• Carew Papers, 1575-1588, p. 145 ; Cox,i. 354. £40 meant about
/SOO of our present money. ' Ibid. p. 264.
Chap. H. MUTATIONS OF THE STATE RELIGION 899
the several proclamations, which are still extant, calling
on the Roman Catholics to conform, are worded in terms
as coarse and insulting as possible to themselves and their
religion ; which as anyone might foresee, so far from
converting, only exasperated them, and tended to fill them
with hatred for the very name of the Protestant religion.
From the time of Elizabeth, Protestantism remained
the religion of the state in Ireland, till the disestablish-
ment of the church in 1869.
CHAPTER ni
SHANE O'NEILL
On the accession of Edward VI. in 1547, Sentleger was
continued as deputy. As there were some serious distur-
bances in Leinster, Edward Bellingham, an able and active
ofl&cer, was sent over in May this year as military com-
mander, bringing a small force of 600 horse and 400 foot.
His first expedition was against O'Moore and O'Conor,
who had again broken out and burned and plundered part
of the county Kildare. He and Sentleger desolated all
Leix and OfFaly ; proclaimed the two chiefs traitors ; and
as many of the people as they could reach they hunted
from house and home — a new way of dealing with the
peasantry. The chiefs, fleeing from place to place, and
reduced to the verge of starvation, were at last forced to
give themselves up. Sentleger treated them mercifully —
other governors would have hanged them ; and when he
was recalled next year, he brought them to England,
where they were received on the whole kindly, and each
got a pension of £100 a year: but they were retained in
London. O'Moore died in the first year of his exile.
Aftersome time — in 1 553 — Queen Mary permitted O'Conor,
at the intercession of his daughter, to return to Ireland.
He was however arrested by the lords justices on his arrival
in Dublin, and imprisoned in the castle. Meanwhile the
two territories were annexed to the Pale, and Bellingham
built a number of castles to keep down the people for the
400 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pa^t IV.
future. How land and people were dealt with is told in
Chapter V.
We have seen (p. 387) that when Conn Bacach O'Neill
was created earl of Tyrone, his (reputed) illej'itimate son
Ferdoragh or Matthew was made baron of Dungannon,
with the right to succeed to the earldom. Conn had
adopted this Matthew — who was a bold dashing young
fellow and a tried soldier — believing him to be his son,
though there was then, as there has been to this day, a
doubt whether the boy was the son of O'Neill or of a
Dundalk blacksmith named Kelly. The whole story of
his O'Neill paternity rests on the word of the mother,
Kelly's wife; and she never made the claim till on her
deathbed, long after the death of Kelly, and when the
boy was fully sixteen years of age.
The earl's eldest legitimate son Shane, afterwards well
known by the name of 8ha7ie-an-diomais or John the
Proud, was a mere boy when Matthew was made baron.
But now that he was come of age and understood his
position, he claimed the right to be his father's heir and
to succeed to the earldom, alleging that Matthew was not
an O'Neill at all, but merely the son of a blacksmith. On
this question there was at first a good deal of quarrelling
between Shane and his father ; but in the end they became
reconciled, and the earl was won over to favour the claims
of Shane as against the baron.
On this, the baron laid his complaints before the
authorities, rightly expecting that they would support him,
as being the heir according to English law (p. 391); the
result of which was that the earl was allured to Dublin,
where he was seized by the lord deputy Sir James Croft,
in 1551, and detained within the Pale in a sort of honour-
able captivity.^ Shane was instantly up in arms, deter-
mined to avenge his father's treacherous capture, and to
maintain what he conceived to be his right against
Matthew and the English : and so commenced a quarrel
that cost England more men and money than any single
struggle they had yet undertaken in Ireland.
> Girew Paper*, 1515-1574, p. 234.
Chaj. m. SHANE O'NEILL 401
The O'Neills of Tyrone were at this time, as they had
been from the earliest historic period, the most powerful
family in Ulster. They commonly claimed, and often
exercised, sovereignty over the other Ulster tribes, all
except the O'Donnells of Tirconnell, who, claiming to be
of equal dignity,' never acknowledged their sway, and
who were generally able to hold their own. Hence the
O'Neills and the O'Donnells regarded each other with
mutual hostility, and were nearly always at war.
Croft now undertook to reduce the young rebel chief
to obedience, and it came to open war : the deputy and
the baron on the one side, against Shane and his adherents
on the other. Croft made three several attempts in
Ulster in quick succession, and failed in all. He first, in
1551, sent an expedition of four ships to attack the Scots
of Rathlin Island — the Mac Donnells, who were Shane's
allies; but they unexpectedly fell on his army and
destroyed them utterly, only one man escaping alive, who
was taken prisoner and afterwards ransomed.* Again,
the following year, he marched north, but his advance
party received a severe check at Belfast by one of Sliane's
adherents ; and Matthew on his way to join the deputy
was surprised at night by Shane himself, and routed with
heavy loss. His third attempt was made in the autumn
of the same year (1552) ; but the only injury he was able
to inflict, a serious one for the poor people, was to destroy
a great extent of standing com.' These hostilities went
on till a great part of Ulster became waste. Still O'Neill
showed not the least disposition to yield. On the con-
trary, the authorities complain that when they went to
' parle' with him (in 1553) they ' found nothing in Shane
but pride and stubbornness.' * At last they thought it as
well to let him alone, and for five or six years after this
no serious attempt was made to reduce him.
Meantime the earl was released at the end of 1552,
' The O'Neills or Einel-Owen were descended from Eoghan ^Owen),
and the O'Donnells or Kinel-ConneU from Conall Gulban, both sons of
Niall of the Nine Hostages.
* Four Mastert, 1551. » Four Masters, 1552.
* Carew Papers, 1515-1574, p. 244.
D D
402 INSURRECTION, OONTISCATION, PLANTATION Pam IV.
though not till he had engaged not to make war on the
baron of Dungannon or on any other of the adherents of
the government.' But scarce had he arrived home when
he and his sons wrangled and fought, so that a large
district round Armagh was turned into a wilderness. To
end this the earl and countess were brought once more to
Dublin in 1553, where they were retained till the eari's
death in 1559. And the deputy sent soldiers north to
restore quiet; but — as the State Paper expresses it —
' that country was not amended but reduced to a worse
state than before.'
Shane now got mixed up — ^to his own loss — in a
bitter family feud among the O'Donnells. Manus
O'Donnell chief of Tirconnell, and his eldest son Calvagh,
had been at war with each other for some time ; and at
last Calvagh, aided by the Scots, defeated the old man in
1555, placed him in captivity, and made himself chief
instead. Two years later (1557) O'Neill collected a
large army of Irish and English to invade Tirconnell,
hoping to bring the whole of Ulster under his sway, or as
he said himself, ' that there should be but one king in
Ulster for the future.' Being joined by Calvagh's brother
Hugh, who seems to t&ive been exasperated at the ill
treatment of his father, he marched^^estwards and finally
pitehed his camp at Balleeghan on the shore of Lough
Swilly, in the heart of Tirconnell.
Calvagh seeing that with his small force he was not
able to meet this attack in open fight, asked the advice of
his father, whom he still held captive. Old Manus,
remembering how he and his father Hugh had surprised
Shane's father at night in his camp at Knockavoe thirty-
five years before (p. 359), advised another surprise now.
Calvagh accordingly sent two trusty friends who, passing
off as Tyrone men, mingled with the crowd in O'Neill's
camp at the beginning of the night without being de-
tected ; and when supper-time came round, they got for
their share a helmetful of meal and some butter. Slip-
ping out firom the camp, they returned safely with the
* Carerv Paperg, 1515-1574, p. 235.
Chap. IIL
SHANE O'NEILL
408
news that the invading army, confident in their strength,
had become quite careless, and that the camp was not
properly guarded : and they showed the oatmeal and
butter as a proof that their story was tme.
Calvagh instantly ordered his small band to arms, and
came silently on the camp." The tent of Shane himself
was easily distinguished. At the door stood a huge torch
thicker than a man's body, blazing bright amid the glimmer
of the camp fires ; and near it, as guard over the tent,
stood sixty tall galloglasses armed with battllpaxes, and
sixty ^im-looking Scots with claymores ready drawn.
But all were now taken completely by surprise- One
party of the O'Donnells made a dash for the blazing torch to
capture the chief; but he was beforehand with them, and
escaped in the darkness and confusion with two of his
followers. They fled on foot and swam across three
rivers, the Deel, the Finn, and the Derg, all now swollen
to torrents, as there had been a rain-storm ; and so tiiey
made their way to a place of safety. O'Neill's Whole army
was routed and scattered; and Calvagh remained in
possession of the camp with all its spoils.*
Shane appears to have soon recovered from this disaster,
and without much delay turned his attenticm^ to other
enemies. In the very next year, 1658, the year of the
death of Queen Mary and of the accession of her half-
sister Elizabeth, some of his people killed the baron of
Dungannon in a manner that some writers do not hesitate
to describe as assassination. It does not appear that Shane
himself was present, though he was accused by the
English of the murder of his brother : but he always main-
tained that Matthew Kdly was killed according to the
laws of war.* As the earl his father died in captivity in
Bublin in the following year, 1559, Shane assumed the
* Four Maiiter»,\ 557. i
• The Fo^ur Magteri record of the transactioo Is: — •a.d. 1558.
The baron O'Neill (Ferdorach the son of Conn Bacach) wa« slain
(a deed luxbecoming kinsmen) hy the people of his heather John.'
From the State Paper account also it appears obvioQA that he was
killed by Shane's people, while Shane himself waa absent. See also
Campion, ed. 1809, p. 188.
D D 2
404 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paki IV.
old title — * The O'Neill ' — and waa acknowledged chief of
Tyrone without any opposition.
The government looked on these movements of the
great northern chief with deep uneasiness. The assump-
tion of the chieftainship was an open defiance of the
English law, according to which Matthew's eldest son
became baron of Dungannon at his father's death, and
should now succeed to the chieitainship and lands of
Tyrone (p. 391). So the lord justice Sir Henry Sydney,
leading his army to Dundalk, sent to Shane requiring
him to come and explain his conduct. But the chiefs
adroitness averted the threatened storm. Taking no
notice of the lord justice's imperious summons, he sent
him a friendly invitation to come and stand sponsor for
his child, which Sydney thought it better to accept.
While he remained at Shane's castle, in February 1559,
the chief gave such convincing erplanations of his conduct,
showing that he had acted in strict accordance with Irish
law and custom, and at the same time he made such
protestations of loyalty, that the lord justice seems to have
been quite won over. Promising to lay the whole matter
before the queen in this new light, and advising Shane to
keep quiet meantime, he withdrew his army and returned
to Dublin. Shane followed the advice, and there was
peace during Sydney's stay in the country.
The earl of Sussex, the next governor, was appointed
lord deputy in August 1559. Sydney's policy had been
one of conciliation, and as long as he remained O'Neill
was quiet enough. But Sussex had scarce any policy at
all except one of general hostility ; his military operations
were nothing but mere destructive exasperating raids,
leading to nothing; and in the end he drove Shane to
renew the war.' But at the time of his arrival in Ireland,
the chief had become so formidable that it was thought
advisable not to attempt to reduce him just then. Accord-
ingly the queen instructs Sussex that although the son of
tlie late baron is the true heir, yet inasmuch as Shane
is legitimate, and is now in possession, it is better to
• Oirem Papers, 1515-1574, pp. 366-7.
Chap. III.
SHANE O'NEILL
405
leave him undisturbed.' But this apparent respect for
legitimacy was mere pretence, which the queen threw
aside when it suited her purpose, as may be seen in next
page- . , . ^
At this time there was great strife and confusion in
Thomond, as there had been ever since the traitor Donogh
O'Brien had succeeded to the earldom on the death of his
uncle, Murrogh O'Brien the first earl (p. 387). After
Donogh's death — he was slain by his own brother — his
son Conor became earl by English law ; and for many
years he maintained his position, but only by continual
fighting, against rivals who claimed the chieftainship by
the law of tanistry. Among others the two sons of Earl
Murrogh rose up against him, and were aided by Garrett
earl of Desmond, while the earl of Clanrickaid and the
Burkes took the part of Conor. After a good deal of
skirmishing they fought a bloody battle in 1559, at
Spancel Hill in Clare, where Conor and Clanrickard were
driven off the field with great loss. This did not end the
feud; for Thomond continued for years to b^e disturbed
by rival claimants. But Conor ultimately recovered his
earldom. :^ ]
The laws passed by parliament for the sprfead of Pro-
testantism (p, 396), which were now in full swing in
Dublin, produced great excitement among the Catholics
throughout the country ; and the government saw with
alarm many signs of coming trouble. It was known that
one of the O'Briens had just returned (in 1560) from
France with promises of aid ; O'Conor had escaped from
Dublin Castle (p. 399) ; the earl of Desmond had refused
to pay cesses and had masses publicly celebratert; and
mysterious messengers were continually passing from one
great chief to another — Shane O'Neill, O'Brien, and the
earls of Kildare and Desmond. There arose among the
English colonists a general uneasy feeling that the Irish
were bent on a rebellion this year. All this and much
more is stated by the queen in her letter of instructions
to the earl of Sussex when she sent him over as lord
» Carm Papert, 1516-1574, pp. 287, 288.
406 INSURRECTION. COITFISCATION, PLANTATION Part IT.
lieutenant in 1560 ; and in Sussex's reports to the queen
after his arrival.*
Perhaps it was these omiuous signs that renewed the
queen's dread of O'Neill, and induced her to issue fresh
instructions to Sussex that ' Shane O'Neill may either by
fair means or by force be compelled to be obedient to us ' ;
and that the young baron of Dungannon, ' being the
heir in right,' should be reinstated." Meantime Shane
was not idle: he maintained a voluminous correspon-
dence, now with the queen, now with the government, in
which he proved himself their match in diplomatic craft as
well as in war. In one of his letters to the queen he
requests her to procure him an English wife, and to give
him £3,000 to enable him to go to England and explain
his conduct personally.?
Rivals were now, by the queen's instructions, raised up
all round him : O'Reilly of Brefney was made an earl, and
it was proposed to create Calvagh O'Donnell earl of
Tirconnell, It was arranged that he should be attacked
at various points simultaneously. O'Donnell and O'Reilly
were to fall on him from the west ; the Scots were to be
won over to assail him from the north and east, under
Sorley Boy Macdonnell and his brother James ; and Sussex
prepared to march against him from the south.*
But Shane was too quick for them, and thwarted the
whole scheme in his own fierce and decisive fashion. He
first entered Brefney (1560) and laid it waste till he forced
O'Reilly to submit and give hostages for obedience in the
future. Next hearing that Calvagh and his wife were in
the monastery of Killodonnell on the shore of Lough
Swilly with only a few attendants, he swooped down from
the hills and carried them both off. He owed Calvagh an
old grudge (p. 403), and he now threw him into prison,
where he detained him till he was ransomed. His sub-
sequent conduct in this afiair was very disreputable : he
> Caren Papers, 1515-1574, pp. 296 to 304. * Ibid. p. 292.
* Some of his letters are in Latin ; some in Irish. Several of them
have been printed by Dr. J. T. Uiibert in his National M88.
* Ca/rem Papeii, 1515-1574, p. 310.
Cbxt. in. SHANE CNEIIL I 407
kept the lady living with him in a state of dishonour from
that time till the day of his death. And what rendered
the crime all the more loathsome was the fact that his
own wife was Calvagh's daughter by a former marriage,
and therefore stepdaughter to the abducted lady. She
was living at the time : and the Four Masters tell us that
she died of horror and grief at the imprisonment of her
father and the misconduct of her husband.
Calvagh's wife was sister to the earl of Argyle — she
herself being commonly known as the countess of Argyle ;
and through her influence the intended attack of the Scots
was averted, and they returned to their alliance with
Shane. About this time, by way of venting his feelings,
he built a castle on an island, to which he gave the name
Fooa-na-Gall, the ' Hatred of the English.'
In this same year (1560) he made an irruption south-
wards into the Pale, wasting and destroying everything.
He did not leave food enough even for his army, so that
on the approach of winter he had to withdraw to his own
territory.
In the summer of next year, 1561, Sussex marched
north with the forces of the Pale and with some reinforce-
ments he had brought from England, and fortified himself
in the cathedral of Armagh, from which he sent a party
of 1,000 men to ravage Tyrone. All went well till they
were returning laden with booty, when Shane dogged
them silently mile after mile; and falling on them suddenly
at a favourable opportunity, he routed them and forced
them to relinquish all their spoils, which he restored to
the owners. He next made another furious raid into the
Pale and wasted Meath and Louth. Turning his atten-
tion to Tirconnell, which had at this time Ao ruler ex-
cept the infirm old chief Manns — Calvagh feeing still a
prisoner — he made himself master of it, and now as-
sumed the sovereignty of all Ulster, * from Drogheda to
the Erne.' »
At last the lord lieutenant Sussex hit on a plan, which
* Ibur Magtert, 1661, where Sussex's expedition and defeat are
related.
408 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Part ir.
if it had been successful, would have most effectual Iv
quieted the dreaded chief for evermore : he hired a man
to murder him. The intended assassin was a fellow named
Nele Gray, one of O'Neill's own servants : and the whole
plot is detailed in a letter written on the 24th August 1561
by Sussex himself to the queen : — ' In fine I brake with
him [Nele Gray] to kill Shaue, and bound myself by my
oath to see him have a hundred marks of land. ... I
told him the ways he might do it, and how to escape
after with safety.' ' It fell through because Gray got
afraid in the end and backed out of the business. The
plot afterwards came to the knowledge of O'Neill.
' Elizabeth's answer — if she sent any answer — is not dis-
coverable. It is most sadly certain however that Sussex
was continued in oflSce ; and inasmuch as it will be seen
that he repeated the experiment a few months later, his
letter could not have been received with any marked
condemnation.' "
In the autumn (1561), Sussex made another attempt
to reduce him : a legitimate attempt this time. At the
instance of Calvagh O'Donnell, whom O'Neill had released
on ransom a little time before, he marched with a large
army into Tyrone, attended by the five earls of Desmond,
Kildare, Ormond, Thomond, and Clanrickard, and wasted
the whole country as far as Lough Foyle. But this was
a mere useless foray ; for O'Neill retired out of the way,
and the deputy had to return, having done much harm
and no good.'
Finding that force was of no avail, the queen resolved
to bring about Shane's long promised visit to London,
hoping that a personal interview would settle matters.
She sent the earl of Kildare, his near cousin (p. 351), to
' Hamilton, Calendar, 1509-157.3, Preface, xvi. and pp. 179, 208.
The full text of the letter may be seen in Froude, History i>f England,
ed. 1870, vii. p. 133. Moore (^History of Irela/nd, iv. 33) remarks on
this ' frightful letter,' as he calls it, that there is not in it * a single
hint of doubt or scruple as to the moral justitiableneas of the
transaction.'
* Froude, Hist, cf Eng. ed. 1870, vii. ISS.
• Fowr Matters, 1561, p. 1587.
CrrAP. ra. SHANE O'NEILL 409
treat with him, with a letter from herself inviting him to
visit her court. This succeeded for the time, for Shane
was himself anxious to visit the queen. As a preliminary
step, peace was now concluded between him and Sussex,
in which it was agreed that he was to be chief of Tyrone
till such time as the claims of Matthew's eldest son should
be investigated. The English were to be withdrawn from
Armagh; but here an intentional ambiguity was slipped
in : it was indeed nothing better than a discreditable bit
of knavery, described by Sussex himself to the queen : —
' The earl of Kildare was. put as surety for the fetching
away the soldiers from Armagh ; and no w^d forbidding
others to he at any time brought thither': and he adds
that this trick ' with such a traitor might very well be
allowed.' • This part of the stipulation, as we might
expect, was not carried out. A safe conduct was brought
to him by Kildare, in which it will be seen there was
another crooked twist, and an engagement that no injury
was to be done to his territory or people during his
absence.
In December (1561) he went to Dublin on his way
to England. Sussex, who was opposed to the journey,
detained him there as long as he could, and he wrote to
the minister Cecil suggesting that the queen should treat
him coldly. But this spiteful recommendation was dis-
regarded, and she received him very graciously. The
redoubtable chief and his retainers, all in their strange
native attire, were viewed with curiosity and wonder. He
strode through the court to the royal presence, between
the two lines of wondering courtiers ; and behind him
marched his galloglasses, their heads bare, their long hair
curling down on their shoulders and clipped short in front
just above the eyes. They wore a loose wide-sleeved
saffron-coloured tunic, and over this a short shaggy mantle
flung across the shoulders.' On the 6th January 1562 he
• Hamilton, Calenda/r, 1509-1573, Preface, xix. and p. 182, No. 71.
• Camden, Annalt, ed. 1639, p. 69, from which the above descrip-
tion of the appearance and dress of Shane and his retinue is trans-
lated.
410 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabt IV.
made formal submission in presence of the court and the
foreign ambassadors'
Shane was perfectly well aware of the danger he
incurred by going to England ; he had no reason to trust
those who had attempted his assassination only a few
months before. Yet it had been a favourite project with
him for a long time to have a personal interview with the
queen, trusting probably to his adroitness to get from her
the most favourable terms. As a matter of fact it was
the settled intention of the government to entrap him,
and they deliberately drew out his safe-conduct with a
cunning flaw. Sir William Cecil expressed this intention
even before the visit : — ' In Shane's absence from Ireland
something might be cavilled against him or his for non-
observing the covenants on his Slide; and so the pact
being infringed the matter might be used as should be
thought fit ' * — that is to say, Shane might be arrested.
• The submission being disposed of,' says Mr. Froude, ' the
next object [of the government] was to turn the visit to
account. Shane discovered that, notwithstanding his
precautions, he had been outwitted in the wording of his
safe-conduct. Though the government promised to permit
him to return to Ireland, the time of his stay had not
been specified.' *
He was kept in London on various pretences : and it
was decided that the young baron of Dungannon was to
come over so that the rival claims might be investigated.
But what they wanted was delay, so as to detain Shane
as long as possible : and they carried on the dishonest
trick by publicly summoning the baron to London while
they privately directed that he should remain in Ireland.*
Shane understood perfectly well the game that was being
played, and he took the course of all others most likely to
succeed : he wrote letter after letter to the queen, flattering
and cajoling her ; again asking her to procure an English
> Canw Papers, 1515-1574, p. 312.
* Froade, Hist, of Eng. ed. 1870, vii. 136.
• Ibid. B. 137.
« UamUtoD, Calendar, 1509-1673. p. 188, No. 44, and p. 190, No. 28
Chai-. IIL SHANE O'NEILL
411
wife for him, promising to crush all her enemies in
Ireland, assuring her of his admiration for her greatness,
requesting to be taught the English manner of dressing,
shooting, riding, and hunting, and telling her she was his
only refuge. And he seems to have succeeded in winning
her to his side. At length matters were brought to a
crisis by the news that the young baron of Dungannon
had been killed in a skirmish by Turlogh Lynnagh
O'Neill. Whereupon the queen and government per-
mitted Shane to return, and paid all his expenses. The
queen issued a proclamation to the effect that O'NeiU's
submission had been accept<ed, and that he was now to be
regarded as a good and faithful subject.
These terms were regarded by both himself and his
people as a triumph over his enemies ; and it was con-
sidered that he had obtained from the English court all
that he had demanded. Yet, taking advantage of his
detention, they forced him to agree to and sign certain
severe conditions, the principal of which were that he was
to claim no sovereignty or levy contributions or hostages
outside Tyrone ; that he should keep no soldiers in pay
except those of his own principality, which would oblige
him to dismiss his Scottish mercenaries ; that he was not
to wage war without the sanction of the Irish deputy and
council ; and that he was to reduce to obedience to the
queen certain of the surrounding tribes, including the
Scots, his allies, which would of course convert them from
friends to enemies. He was merely permitted to retain
for the present his lordship over Tyrone, till the claim of
the remaining son of the baron of Dungannon should be
investigated.'
He returned to Dublin in May 1562 with the pro-
clamation In his pocket, and making no^delay in this
dangerous place, he hastened to Ulster, where he was
welcomed with unbounded joy by the people of Tyrone.
Considering all the circumstances it was marvellous that
he was permitted to leave London so easily. Others before
him, like the earl of Kildare, had worn out their lives in
> Qirew Papers, 1515-1574, pp. 313. 314,
412 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paut IV.
the Tower. We may perhaps account for his escape partly
by his skilful flattery of the queen, and partly that the
government knew that if he were put out of the way,
Turlogh Lynnagh would succeed to the chieftainship, and
might prove equally or more troublesome. ' To whatever
he owed his escape,' observes Dr. Richey, ' it was not to
the justice, magnanimity, or honour of the English govern-
ment.'
If the London authorities had acted straight, O'Neill
would probably have returned loyally disposed, and all
might be well. They took a different course ; and the
natural result followed. He resented being forced to sign
conditions under compulsion and in violation of agree-
ment ; and probably he never meant to carry them out.
It was craft against craft, and the queen and her crooked
ministers met their match. His position and his inten-
tions are very clearly set forth in his own speech made
afterwards to the commissioners Stukely and Dowdall
(p. 416): — 'Whom am I to trust? When I came unto
the earl of Sussex upon safe-conduct, he offered me the
courtesy of a handlock. When I was with the queen,
she said to me herself that I had, it was true, safe-conduct
to come and go ; but it was not said when I might go ;
and they kept me there until I had agreed to things so
far against my honour and profit, that I would never per-
form them while I live. That made me make war j and
if it were to do again I would do it.' ^
He now pursued just the same course as before, as if
he had never signed any conditions. Maguire of Fer-
managh had made himself obnoxious by his alliance with
Calvagh O'Donnell and by his subserviency to the English
government. Assisted by Hugh O'Donnell, who aspired
to the chieftainship of Tirconnell as against his brother
Calvagh, Shane now, in direct disregard of the conditions,
invaded Fermanagh, and brought Maguire to utter ruin.
Sussex having in vain expostulated with him, at length
laid another plot for his destruction. In 1563, he sent
» Hamilton, Calendar, 1509-1573, p. 289, No. 83 ; Froude, Hist, of
Eng. ed. 1870, vii. 644.
Chap. m. SHANE O'NEILL
413
him an urgent request to meet himselt and some other
English captains for a parley at Dandalk, enclosing him a
safe-conduct, cunningly worded so as to leave a loophole
for his arrest. Sussex himself describes this treacherous
piece of double-dealing in a letter to the queen.* But
O'Neill, taught no doubt by his London experience, did
not present himself at the meeting.
This having failed, Sussex next threw out a more
tempting bait. Shane had often expressed a wish for an
English wife (pp. 406, 410) and seems to have cast his
choice on Sussex's sister. When Sussex came to hear of this
he wrote to him (1563), 'that if he would come [to Ard-
braccan] and see her, and if he liked her and she him,
they should have his good will ' ; all whicbtwas simply a
trap. * The present sovereign of England ' — writes Mr.
Froude — * would perhaps give one of her daughters to the
king of Dahomey with more readiness than the earl of
Sussex would have consigned his sister to §hane O'Neill.
. . . Had he trusted himself to Su^s^ex he would
have had a short shrift for a blessing, and a rough nuptial
knot about his neck.' O'Neill got warning of danger
from some friend living in the Pale, and never came to
claim the lady.
These repeated attempts only the more exasperated him,
and he made a series of crushing raids on those Ulster
chiefs that had declared against him. Sussex marched
north once more in May 1563 ; but he had no pay and
but poor provisions for his soldiers, who were mutinous
and unmanageable ; and he eflfected nothing but the capture
of some herds of cows and horses.*
At length the queen, heartily sick of this interminable
war, instructed Sussex to end it by any reasonable conces-
sions ; and peace was signed, on the 8th November 1563,
in O'Neill's house at Benburb, on terms very favourable to
him. He was confirmed in tiie old name, 'The O'Neill,*
* until the queen should decorate him by another honour-
able name.' He was not bound to come in person to the
> Hamilton, Calendar, 1509-1574, p. 202, Nos. 72, 73.
» Ca/rew Pajjers, 1515-1573, pp. 34y-352.
414 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION PabtIV.
supreme governor of Ireland. * The Baid Lord O'Neill was
to have all pre-eminence, jurisdiction, and dominion, which
his predecessors had . . . over all who were accus-
tomed to pay service to his predecessors.' The English
garrison to be removed from Armagh. All spoils taken
from Tyrone while Lord O'Neill was in England were
to be restored.*
Almost immediately after this a determined attempt
was made to poison him, and well nigh succeeded. The
time was skilfully chosen — after the peace — when Shane
would naturally be unsuspicious, and there is scarce a
doubt that it was planned by Sussex, though there is no
absolute proof. Sussex had in his employment a man
named Smith, whom he often sent as a confidential mes-
senger to O'Neill.^ This man was the agent in the attempt.
He sent the chief some wine from Dublin as a present,
which Shane and his family and guests unsuspectingly
drank at table. But the assassin missed the main mark ;
for though all that drank were taken sick, and nearly the
whole household were brought to death's door, no one
actually died. The crime was traced to Smith, who con-
fessed his guilt, but protested that he did it on his own
responsibility — which no one believed. He was of course
arrested, and much noise was made about his ' horrible
attempt * as the queen called it : but he well knew he had
nothing to fear ; and early in the following year he was
set at liberty.'
For some time after this, Shane was left very much to
himself; we read of no further attempts to assassinate
him ; and the country enjoyed unusual quiet.
It will be necessary here to pause in our narrative to
say a few words about the Scots of Antrim, who in those
times figured much in Irish affairs. The Irish colonists
who had settled in early days in Scotland ultimately, as has
been related (p. 151), obtained the sovereignty of the whole
• Cktrew Papert, 1515-1674, pp. 352, 353, 362.
• Ibid. pp. 349, 350.
• See also Froude, Tf^Kt. nf Fug. ^, 1«7n vii. 1R6, where the whole
transaction ia related : and Richey, Sh^rt Hut. p. 476.
Cmmv, m. SHAlfE O'NEILL
415
country. Like their kinsmen in Ireland they were divided
into tribes and septs, of whom the most distinguished were
the Mac Donnells of the Hebrides — ' the Lordd of the Isles/
A little before the time we are now treating of, these
Mac Donnells and others had begun to form settlements in
Antrim, the home of their ancestors. They were a bold,
brave, pugnacious race ; and they leagued with the Irish
chiefs and took part in their wars, as naturally as if they
had never left the old country. The English government
looked on them with an unfriendly eye, and their increas-
ing power gave great uneasiness ; for not only were they
themselves formidable, but being enemies of" the English,
they fanned disaflTection through the whole province.
Expeditions were sent against them from time to time,
which sometimes made great havoc, and were sometimes
repulsed. But these expeditions and losses in no way
deterred the Islesmen : fresh swarms of ' Redshanks,' as
they were often called, poured in ; and year by year they
obtained firmer footing in the Glens of Antrim. They
often hired themselves as mercenaries to the Irish chiefs ;
and p^rt of Shane O'Neill's bodyguard usually consisted of
a company of gigantic Scottish galloglasses.
O'Neill had a twofold ambition. He meant to make
himself king of Ulster like his forefathers, and to rule
altogether independently of the English, though still
acknowledging the queen as his sovereign. And he
aimed at bringing all the Ulster tribes, great and small,
under his absolute dominion. The English on their part
were equally resolved to extend and maintain their
authority over Ulster, and they tried every means at their
disposal, fair or foul — force, craft, assassination — to crush
him. If he had united the Ulster chiefs in friendly alli-
ance with himself, he might have withstood^the English to
the end. But in his efforts to subjugate, he created
enemies all round him ; and the defeat that finally crushed
him was inflicted, not by the English, but by his neigh-,
hours the O'Donnells.
The London treaty bound him to reduce dertain tribes,
including the Scots. We know how little this treaty
416 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paht IV.
influenced him. But anyhow he now broke with the
8cots and made preparations to attack them, whether to
please the queen, as he himself asserted, or more probably
thinking that they were growing too powerful to be safe
as neighbours. In 1565 he crossed the Bann in curraghs,
and after several conflicts, gained a decisive victory over
them at Glenshesk near Ballycastle, where 700 of them
were slain. Of their three leaders — the Mac Donnells,
brothers — Angus was slain, and Sorley Boy and James
were made prisoners ; but James died of his wounds.*
The news of this victory at first gave great joy to the
English, and the privy council sent to congratulate him.
But seeing how much it increased his power, their joy
Foon turned to jealousy and fear. The queen directed Sir
Henry Sydney, who had been again appointed deputy in
the beginning of this year (1565), to call on O'Neill for an
explanation why he went to war without leave, and why
he kept the prisoners and the castles he had taken, instead
of handing them over to the government, acting as if the
country were altogether his own. In the meantime, to
make matters worse, he made a successful raid on Tir-
connell early in the following year (1566), spoiled Clan-
rickard, expelled ^hane Maguire chief of Fermanagh, and
plundered that part of the Pale lying near Newry ; and he
also burned the cathedral of Armagh to prevent the Eng-
lish getting shelter there again.
In this same year, two commissioners, j ustjce Dowdall
and Thomas Stukely were sent to have an interview with
him. But he gave them no satisfaction, and uttered this
speech, alluding in it contemptuously to the fact that
Mac Carthy of Desmond had recently been made earl of
Clancarty : — ' I care not to be made an earl, unless I may
be better and higher than earl ; for I am in blood and
power better and higher than the best of them ; and I
will give place to none but my cousin of Kildare, for that
he is of my house. You have made a wise earl of M'Carty
More ; I keep a [servant-] man as good as he is. For the
queen I confess she is my sovereign ; but I never made
• Four Masters, 1565, p. K05
CHAf . m. SHANE O'NEILL
417
peace with her but at her own seeking. My ancestors
were kings of Ulster, and Ulster is mine, and shall be
mine. O'Donnell shall never come into his country, nor
Bagenall into Newry, nor Kildare into Dundrum or Lecale.
They are now mine. With the sword I won them ; with
this sword I will keep them.' ^
Sir Henry Sydney, a much abler and mojpe far-seeing
man than Sussex, now (1566) took decisive and well-
planned measures to reduce the great rebel chief. He
recalled all the sub-chiefs who had been expelled by
O'Neill, and who now — every man — engaged to make war
on Shane,^ threatening him on all sides : he sent a garri-
son to Derry — in O'Neill's rear — under a brave and ex-
perienced oflScer, Colonel Randolph, and he put Dundalk
in a state of defence. Shane now — 1566 — made an in-
road into the Pale, doing immense damage, but he met
with a serious repulse when he attempted to take Dundalk.
He was also defeated with great loss at Deny ; though
here the English purchased victory dearly by the death of
the brave Colonel Randolph : and to complete the. tragedy
his men were soon afterwards attacked by some mjisterious
deadly plague, which carried oflf almost the whole garrison.
Sydney next marched into Tyrone, which he wasted as he
went along : and he restored to their castles ^any of the
chiefs whom he had recalled, including Calvagh O'Donnell ;'
but O'Neill himself retired to his fastnesses, and the
deputy had to return without bringing him to terms.
When Calvagh O'Donnell died he was succeeded in
1567 by his brother Hugh. This was the same Hugh
who some years before had been in alliance with Shane ;
but he was now an enemy, and on the side of the English :
and in the year of his inauguration, acting probably at the
instance of Sydney, he led a plundering expedition into
Tyrone, and committed great damage. Shane retaliated
by crossing the Swilly into Tirconnell ; but he was met by
O'Donnell at the other side and utterly routed. The fugi-
tives, attempting in their flight to recross the Swilly, were
• See references in note, p. 412.
* Carew Papers, 1516-1674, p. 3; 3. * Ibid. 1575-1688, p. 335.
E E
418 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabt IV.
drowned in great numbers, as the tide had risen in the
meantime ; and Shane himself, crossing a ford two miles
higher up, barely escaped with his life and made his way
into Tyrone. 1
This action, in which 1,300 of his men perished,
utterly ruined him. He lost all heart, and the annalists
say 'his reason and senses became deranged,' in which
they are not far wrong : for the chief now formed the in-
sane resolution of placing himself at the mercy of the
Scots, whose undying enmity he had earned by the defeat
at Glenshesk two years before. He came to their camp
at Cushendun (in 1567) with only fifty followers, trusting
in their generosity, having previously sent them his
prisoner Sorley Boy to propitiate them. They received
him with a show of welcome and cordiality ; but in the
midst of the festivities, they raised a dispute, which was
probably preconcerted, and suddenly seizing their arms,
they massacred the chief and all his followers.^
The body of O'Neill was wrapped up in a shirt and
thrown into a pit. Four days afterwards. Captain Pierce,
commander of Carrickfergus, who is strongly suspected of
having a hand in the plot that led to Shane's destruction,
brought the head to Dublin to the deputy, who gave him
1 ,000 marks, the reward offered in the proclamation. And
the deputy caused the head to be impaled on a spike over
one of the towers of Dublin Castle. O'Neill's rebellion cost
the government £147,407, about a million and three-
quarters of our present money, besides the cesses laid or
the country, and the damages sustained by the subjects."
At the time of his death he was only about forty years oi
age.
Of all the Irish chiefs, the English most feared and
hated Shane O'Neill. English writers persistently de-
famed him, and they continue to do so to this day. ' Sc
thoroughly has Shane's personal character been blackened
that the Irish have never attempted to make him a
' Ihur Matter$, 1567.
« Campion, Hutorie, 191, 192 ; Four Meuters, 1567.
• Ware, Annals, 1568.
Chap. III. SHANE O'NEILL
419
national hero ; and he enjoys the unfortupate position,
between the two nationalities, of being defamed by the
one and repudiated by the other. ... No possible charge
against him has been omitted : but though they all contain
some element of truth, they are manifestly exaggerated,
and generally made by men who were themselves, with
less excuse, open to similar imputations.' '
We know that his life was stained by one black crime.
But taking him all in all, there is no reason to believe
that he was worse than the general run of Irish chiefs and
English noblemen of the time ; and he certainly never
practised secret assassination. In his manner of ruling
his principality he compared favourably with the contem-
porary chiefs in other parts of Ireland. Of this we have
the testimony of several writers, among others the Jesuit
Campion, a contemporary and rather hostile writer : —
' [O'Neill] ordered the north so properly, that if any
subject could approve the losse of money or goods within
his precinct, he would assuredly either force the robber to
restitution, or of his own cost redeeme the harme to the
looser's contentation. Sitting at meate, before he put one
morsell into his mouth, he used to slice a portion above
the dayly almes, and send it namely to some beggar at his
gate, saying it was meete to serve Christ first.' ^ Sydney
when he went north was surprised at the prosperous look
of the country, and says Tyrone was 'so well inhabited as
no Irish county in the realm was like it ' ; which statement
may be contrasted with his account of the state of Leinster
and Munster at the same period, under the government of
the earls of Desmond, Ormond, and Kildare (p. 421). If
in private life be was much like his contemporary chiefs,
he rose head and shoulders above them all in military
genius, in the arts of diplomacy, and in administrative
ability.
* Dr. Richey, the ■writer of these words, has, after a searching exami-
nation of the State Papers, vindicated the character of Shane O'Neill ;
and from his valaable and suggestive lecture I have derived material
help in writing this account of the great Irish chief. (^Short Hittory
of IrtJand, chap. xvii).
^ Hutorie of Ireland, ed. 1809, p. 189.
k E 2
420 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabt IT.
CHAPTER IV
THE GERALDINE REBELLION: FIRST STAGE
While the North was convulsed by the war of Shane
O'Neill, the Soath was kept in a state of unspeakable
confusion and misery by the never-ending feuds of the
Butlers and Geraldines. These two great families, it will
be remembered, had taken opposite sides all along, the
Butlers being for the English, the Geraldines for the Irish.
They had now an additional incentive to quarrel : for the
earl of Ormond had conformed to the Protestant faith,
while Desmond — Gerald the 'rebel earl' — was regarded
as the great champion of Catholicity. Sussex writes in
1560 that all the evil-disposed (i.e. disloyal) persons
depended on the Greraldines : all the loyal people on the
Butlers.'
On one occasion Desmond, who claimed jurisdiction
over Decies in Waterford, crossed the Blackwater with his
army to levy tribute in the old form of ooyne and livery.
The chief of the district, Sir Maurice Fitzgerald, a relative
of the Butlers, resisted the claim, and called in the aid of
the earl of Ormond. Desmond, taken unawares, was
defeated in a battle fought in 1565 at Affane in the county
Waterford, beside the Blackwater ; many of his men were
slain ; and- he himself was wounded and taken prisoner.
It is related that while he was borne from the field on a
litter, one of his captors tauntingly asked him : — ' Where
is now the great earl of Desmond ? ' To which he in-
stantly replied, * Where he ought to be : on the necks of
the Butlers ! '
In this same year the earl of Sussex, who was then in
England, sent a report to the queen, with a long catalogue
of Desmond's misdeeds : his lawless invasion of Decies,
disobedience to the deputy's orders, refusal to aid the
queen's forces, and several spoilings of Ormond's territories
» Carem Papers, 1615-1574, p. SOL
Chap. IV. GERALDINE REBELLION: FIRST STAGE 421
during the time Ormond himself was serving the queen.'
Matters at last came to such a pass between the two earls
that the queen commanded both to her presence to have
their differences settled. Ormond was permitted to return
almost immediately, but Desmond was detained for some
time. He was at last pardoned and set at , liberty : but
he had to bind himself to certain conditions, among others
to assist the government in pacifying the country, to
abolish the Brehon law, coyne and livery, and all such
imposts, and to discourage minstrels, rhymers, and story-
tellers. He was made to piomise in short to anglicise
himself and his people ; but all this had little result, for
on his return matters went on much the same as before.
Not only did these two earls desolate the country by
their contentions, but they crushed and ruined the people,
by impressing men for their wars, by levying coyne and
livery, and by every other possible form of- tyranny. Sir
Henry Sydney the deputy at last made a journey south
early in 1567 to reduce Desmond, and to investigate the
causes of quarrel. He found the country all ruined. In
a letter to the queen he gives a vivid description of the
desolation and misery he witnessed with his own eyes on
his way through Munster and Connaught; and it may
well astonish a reader how things could have come to such
a pass in any civilised land having even the name of a
government. The farther south he went the worse he
found the country. Speaking of the districts of Desmond
and Thomond he states that whole tracts, once cultivated,
lay waste and uninhabited: the ruins of burned towns,
villages, and churches everywhere : ' And there heard I
such lamentable cries and doleful complaints made by that
remain of poor people which are yet left, who hardly
escaping the fury of the sword and fire of their outrageous
neighbours, or the famine which their extorcious lords
have driven them unto either by taking their, goods from
them or by spending the same by their extort taking of
coyne and livery, make demonstration of the miserable
estate of that country. . . . Yea, the view of the bones
• Carew Papers, 1515-1574, pp. 370-3.
422 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paut IV.
and skulls of the dead subjects, who partly by murder,
partly by famine, have died in the fields, as in troth hardly
any Christian with dry eyes could behold.' * The smaller
chiefs imitated their more powerful neighbours, and im-
poverished by their grinding extortion the few people that
were left.
During his progress he hanged or imprisoned great
numbers of those he deemed the worst criminals; and
acted throughout with excessive and imprudent harshness.
While sternly reproving the chiefs whom he found in
fault as he went along, he looked upon Desmond as the
greatest culprit of all, and treated him more severely than
the others ; though he was indeed in little or nothing
worse than Ormond. At great risk, he arrested him
publicly in Kilmallock — his own capital town — and brought
him to Limerick, where he had him indicted for breaking
the peace against Ormond, and for unlawfully levying
men, and fined him £20,000. At the same time, having
knighted the earl's brother John Fitzgerald, or John of
Desmond as he is usually called, he appointed him sene-
schal and ruler of the Desmond principality during the
earl's absence in captivity.^
In South Connaught the whole country had been kept
in a state of constant strife on account of the mutual
wrangling of the earl of Clanrickard'8,8ons, and also of
Clanrickard himself with the other chiefs of the province.
The deputy in his way through Connaught forced all
these to a temporary peace, and left the province quiet for
the time. He returned to Dublin through Athlone, bring-
ing Desmond and other prisoners, whom he consigned to
the castle on his arrival.
Sydney's endeavours to settle matters between Ormond
and Desmond satisfied neither. Ormond was ' related to
queen Elizabeth, and had been educated with her ; and
she now insisted that right or wrong he should be sus-
tained. Accordingly Sydney's decisions went generally
against Desmond ; but Ormond was incensed that they
» Ca/rem Paper*, 1589-1600, Pref. Iviii.
» Ibid. 1675-1588, p. 337.
Chap. IV. GERAIJ)INE REBELLION : FIRST STAGE 423
were not still more favourable to himself; and he sent
continual complaints of the deputy.' This, coupled with
the commotion caused by Sydney's unsparing severity,
turned the queen against him ; and finding it impossible
to please all, he asked and obtained permission to retire.
He returned to England in 1567, bringing several of the
Irish chiefs, and leaving the earl of Desmpnd in Dublin
Castle, whose brother John continued to 'govern South
Munster in his place. j
Orraond persisted in his mischievous complaints of the
Fitzgeralds to the queen : and he now accused John of
Desmond of practising gross injustice towards the Butlers.
The consequence of these representations was that without
consulting or advising with Sydney, who knew best what
course to adopt, or with anyone else, John of Desmond
was treacherously arrested, and both he and the earl were
brought over to London this same year (1567) and con-^
signed to the Tower, where they were detained for six years.
Whatever show of justice there was in the arrest of the
earl of Desmond, there was none at all in the treatment
of his brother : and when Sydney subsequently heard of
the proceeding he strongly condemned it : pronouncing it
the origin of the rising under Fitzmaurice — about to be
related. John of Desmond had been in fact well affected
towards the government up to that time : but his wanton
arrest and imprisonment converted him from a loyal
subject to an irreconcilable rebel.^
After a year's absence Sir Henry Sydney returned to
Ireland as deputy in 1568 ; and by the queen's command
he summoned a parliament early in the following year.
He wished to pass certain measures which he knew would
be vehemently opposed: and in order to make sure of
success he had the elections carried on in a most irregular
and unconstitutional way. Some mayors and sheriffs
elected themselves members ; some memb^ represented
non-corporate towns, i.e. towns that had no right to have
members at all ; and many were returned for places which
» Carew Papers, 1575-1588, p. 336.
' Ibid. p. 341, where all this is related in detalL
424 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Part IV.
tliey had never even seen. A large number of Englishmen
were elected merely to vote with the deputy — men who
knew nothing of the country, and had no interest in it.
There was a powerful opposition headed by a very able
man, Sir Christopher Barnewell, who was seconded and
aided by Sir Edmund Butler, the earl of Ormond's brother,
whose motive for opposing the government will be seen
farther on. The opposition insisted on an inquiry into
the gross illegality of the elections ; which was granted,
with the result that those who elected themselves and
those elected for non-corporate towns were all disqualified.
But still it was a packed house, and the court party — ' the
English faction,' as the opposition called them — had a
majority.
Then, during three sessions, which were held in 1569,
1570, and 1571, Sydney had his measures passed, though
with great difficulty. The principal were : — one for sus-
pending Poynings' law while the present parliament lasted,
80 that acts could be passed without consulting the English
council : one for attainting Shane O'Neill, for confiscating
his lands, and for abolishing the title of The O'Neill,
making it high treason to use it. There was also an act
for the erection of free schools, or ' charter schools,' whose
teachers were to be Englishmen, and of course Protestants :
the precursor of all those attempts t-o proselytise the
Irish through the instrumentality of education, which were
continued with great persistency far into the present cen-
tury. Sydney would have brought forward measures still
more stringent and sweeping tf the opposition had not
been so determined.
The discontent and alarm caused by the turn of the tide
against the Catholic religion, and by the high-handed and
harsh proceedings of Sydney, had been brought to a crisis
by the arrest of Desmond and his brother. The nearest
representative of the Desmond family remaining in Ireland
was James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald the earl's first cousin.
He keenly resented their arrest, but took no immediate
steps, as he expected to see them released after a short
imprisonment. But when he found that Sydney returned
Chap. IT. GERALDINE REBELLION: FIRST STAGE 425
to Dublin the following year without bringing them, he
went among the southern chiefs in 1569 exhorting them
to combine in defence of their religion. This Fitzmaurice
was a man of great ability, both in civil and military
affairs, enthusiastic in temperament, of active habits, a
scorner of luxury and ease, who preferred the bare ground
to a bed after a hard day's fighting.
About this time or a little before, a project to colonise
a large part of Ireland was seriously entertained by the
English government : it was a matter of secrecy, but the
secret leaked out ; disquieting rumours ran through the
country; and there was a ferment of alarm among the
chiefs both native and Anglo-Irish. That these reports
were not without foundation was brought home to them
in a manner not to be mistaken by the proceedings of an
English adventurer. Sir Peter Carew. He was a Devon-
shire knight who had lately come to Ireland to claim large
territories in Leinster and Munster, in virtue of his descent
from Robert Fitzstephen who ha'd lived 400 years before,
and who as a matter of fact left no heirs. On this fraudu-
lent claim, which he supported by a forged roll, Carew
harassed the owners with crooked legal proceedings perti-
naciously pursued for years, encouraged by the weak and
corrupt law courts : so that many were induced to offer
compromises. Moreover he expelled the old inhabitants
of several districts, and in doing so was guilty of many
acts of great cruelty. But in the end most of his ridi-
culous claims were disallowed and came to nothing : and
he died in 1575 before he had time to do more mischief.'
It may be added here that the projected extensive colo-
nisation was turned aside for a time by the course of
events.
Fitzmaurice, acting on the request of the earl of
Desmond and his brother Johp, which was conveyed to
him privately from London, issued a manifesto in 1569 to
the ' prelates, princes, lords, and people of Ireland,' pro-
claiming himself the leader of a holy league for the
' See Ibur Masters, 1580, p. 1736, note b: and Cox, Eist. «f Irel.
A.D. 1575.
428 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paut IV.
defence of the Roman Catholic religion.' The grounds
set forth in the manifesto are purely religious : but the
Irish chiefs all over the country were as we have seen
already well disposed to combine ; and thus arose the
second Geraldine league." The distinction of race was
forgotten : both Anglo-Irish and native Irish joined this
league to defend their religion and their homes, till it in-
cluded ' all the English and Irish of Munster from the
Barrow to Mizen Head.' ' Among the noblemen was the
newly created earl of Clancarty, who now renounced his
allegiance and claimed his position as Mac Carthy More,
native chief of Desmond.
Among the lands seized by Carew was a large district
belonging to Sir Edmund Butler, brother of the earl of
Ormond, Ormond himself being at this time in England.
Butler, who was ' a cholerick man,' as Cox describes him,
a man of a restless pugnacious disposition, at once resented
Carew's impudent intrusion : and he and his two brothers
Pierce and Edward, both of whom acted under his in-
fluence, joined the league. Sir Edmund had a bitter
personal quarrel with the deputy in the parliament, and
Sydney's stinging insults formed an additional motive for
rising in rebellion. But the Butlers were not very earnest,
and their action was in a great measure a fit of ill-temper. '
They had no religious grievances like the others, and at
no time did they contemplate anything more than to re-
cover their lands and take revenge on Carew. They never
dreamed of throwing off altogether their allegiance to the
queen. They were very active at first; but they soon
retired and made submission.
On the surface, however, the Geraldine rebellion was
purely a religious one, which is plain, not only from
Fitzmaurice's manifesto, but also from the statements of
Sir Nicholas Malbie and other English officers.* The arch-
bishop of Cashel and the bishop of Emly, with James
> See Carem Papers, 1515-1574, p. 397. for full text.
* For the first Geraldine League see page 376, iupra
■ Four Masters, 1569, p. 1631,
* Caren; Papers, 157 5-1588, pp. 310, 314.
Chap. IV. GERALDINE REBELLION : FIRST STAGE 427
Fitzgerald the youngest brother of the earl, were sent tc
the Pope and to the king of Spain for aid * to rescue the
country from the tyranny and oppression of Queen
Elizabeth.'
Sir Edmund Butler began hostilities by traversing a
great part of Leinster, wasting and destroying the English
settlements. Then marching to Enniscorthy, where the
people were assembled at the annual fair, he spoiled the
town and brought away a vast quantity of booty.
When Sydney heard of the alarming combination of
the southern chiefs, and of the proceedings of Sir Edmund
Butler, he proclaimed them all traitors (1569), and pre-
pared for a campaign in Munster to break up the con-
federation. Carew, whom he commissioned to proceed
against Sir Edmund Butler, began his operations by taking
the Butlers' strong castle of Clogrennan near Carlow.
Next marching to Kilkenny, which was then besieged by
Sir Edmund, he attacked the Butlers unexpectedly and
routed them, killing 400 and relieving the city ; after which
he marched to Sir Edward Butler's house and massacred
all he found in it, men, women, and children.^
Sydney himself set out for the south in the autumn of
this year (1569), and after a week's siege he took Castle-
martyr in Cork, one of Desmond's strongholds ; after which
he marched to Cork city, where he received the submission
of several of the weaker and more timid confederates.
Leaving Cork he proceeded towards Limerick, burning
and destroying everything on his way, and executing
every man he found in arms. In this campaign he was
severe, often merciless : but he was mercy itself compared
with one of his subordinates, Colonel Gilbert, who himself
describes his exploits in a letter to Sydney : — * After my
first summoning of any castle or fort, if they would not
presently yield it, I would not afterwards take it of their
gift, but win it perforce, how many lives soever it cost,
putting man, woman, and child of them to the sword.' '
And for all this Sydney had nothing but praise for him.
» Carew Papers, 1575-1588, pp. 310, 314.
« Froude, Hist, of Eruj. ed. 1870, x. 252.
423 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pakt IV.
At Limerick Sir Edmund Butler made submission to
Sydney, and after some time he and his brothers were
pardoned by the queen. The deputy next proceeded
through Thomond to Galway, taking many castles as he
went along, and returned through Athlone to Dublin.
By Sydney's advice it had been determined a few years
before, to place Munster and Connaught under the govern-
ment of ' presidents,' each with a council, so as to bring
these provinces more directly within the range of English
law; which, it was hoped, would remedy the disorder
th&p everywhere prevailed. And he now (1569) left Sir
Edward Fitton at Athlone as president of Connaught.
These presidents with their councils were invested with
almost unlimited power : they were instructed to prosecute
with fire and sword all rebels or those they considered
rebels, and for this purpose they could levy men in any
numbers they pleased and force them to serve ; they held
sessions and heard and adjudicated on all manner of cases ;
they could use torture in examining witnesses ; they
could execute martial law, which to all intents and pur-
poses gave them power of life and death over the people
they governed. It will be seen as we go along that they
generally used their terrible powers to the fullest extent.
Sir William Drury, who was appointed president of
Munster in 1576 may be taken as a fair average repre-
sentative of the class, neither the best nor the worst. In
the first year of his ofl&ce he made a circuit through his
province, holding courts as he went along for the trial of
those brought before him as evil-doers. In Cork he
hanged forty-three and pressed one to death ; in Limerick,
twenty-two ; in Kilkenny, thirty-six, besides a blackamoor
and two witches who were executed without any regular
trial, by natural law, as he found the law of the realm did
not reach them. In his second year of oflBce he hanged
400. Yet he thought it necessary to apologise to the
government for his excessive mildness and moderation.
But these presidents tortured, hanged, and quartered
all to no purpose ; for, as might be expected, they utterly
failed in the main object for which they weie appointed.
Chap. IV. GEEALDINE REBELLION : FIRST STAGE 42J)
' The history of each president is merely a monotonous
recital of petty battles, sieges, and executions, by which
not a step was gained towards the settlement and civili-
sation of the country ; all local authorities which might
have assisted, and who would have been interested in assist-
ing in good government were ignored and destroyed,
and the whole population insulted and exasperated to the
utmost. Thirty years of presidential government did not
establish order in Munster.' '
This circuit of Sydney's went a good way to break up
the confederacy ; many of the leaders were terrified into
submission, among others the earl of Clancarty, who
excused himself to Sydney by saying that he had been led
into rebellion by Sir Edmund Butler.
At the approach of winter Fitzmaurice, deserted now by
so many of his confederates, retired to the inaccessible fast-
nesses of the Galtys, and established himself in the great
wooded glen of Aierlow. It never entered into his head
to yield. On the contrary he renewed the war early next
year (1570) by suddenly appearing before Kilmallock,
which had been held by an English garrison ever since
the arrest of Desmond (p. 422). Scaling the walls before
sunrise, h« plundered the town ; after which he set it on
fire and retired to Aherlow, leaving the stately old capital
a mere collection of blackened walls.
The reckless and overbearing conduct of president
Fitton roused the people of Connaught to resistance every-
where : even Conor O'Brien earl of Thomond, hitherto the
friend of the English, was driven to revolt, and Fitton had
to fly for life, pursued as far as Galway by the enraged
earl. But the deputy Sydney intervened, and the earl
was in his turn forced to fly to France. Here through
the mediation of the English ambassador Norris with the
queen, he obtained his pardon ; after which he returned
to Ireland and again became a loyal subject. Meantime
Connaught, under Fitton's rule, continued as disturbed as
ever ; and a bloody battle was fought in thej summer of
this year (1570) at Shrule on the borders of Galway, by
• Richey, Short History, p. 516.
430 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paet IV.
Fitton and the Galway Burkes under Lord Clanrickard on
the one hand, against the Mayo Burkes and the O'Flahertya
on the other. This appears to have been a senseless
affair, and resulted in nothing but great slaughter on both
sides, for each party claimed the victory.^
Many members of the league surrendered during this
year (1570) ; and as time went on it became more and more
clear that Fitzmaurice's cause was growing hopeless. Sir
John Perrott, a bluff, brave, hasty-tempered old soldier, was
appointed president of Munster in 1571, and entered on
his first campaign against the insurgents with extra-
ordinary energy, hanging, burning, shooting, and quarter-
ing all before him like the others. Fitzmaurice sent him a
challenge to single combat, like the knights of old, which
Perrott accepted ; but the challenger, fearing treachery,
failed to appear; and Perrott resumed his murderous
progress, threatening ' to hunt the fox (Fitzmaurice) out
of his hole.' He battered down with his powerful siege
train castle after castle of the Geraldines, and pursued thje
insurgents through woods, glens, and bogs with untiring
activity. He failed in his first attempt on Castlemaine in
Kerry, Desmond's chief stronghold in that district; but
he laid siege to it again next year, 1572 ; and after a
gallant defence of three months, the garrison were forced
to surrender by sheer starvation. Meantime a^the end
of the preceding year Sir Henry Sydney had been recalled
at his own request, and was succeeded by Sir William
Fitzwilliam.
Sir Edward Fitton summoned a court in Galway in
March 1572, to which came, among many others, the earl
of Clanrickard and his sons. These were the same two
young men who had formerly given so much tfcouble (p.
422) : and now hearing some rumour of evil designs on
the part of Fitton, they fled from the town jj^^ereupon
the president arrested their father and brought him to
Dublin to the lord deputy. This did harm instead of
good. The sons were enraged ; and they and Fitzmaurice,
who joined them from the recesses of Aherlow, aided by
> J'our Masters. 1670.
Chap, IV. GERALDINE REBELLION : FIRST STAGE
431
1,000 Scots, traversed Connaught and Leinster for more
than four months, burning and wasting the settlements of
the English and their adherents. Fitton took the field
against the rebels ; and the sort of warfare he carried on
we know from his own mouth. Describing his capture of
one of their castles, he says: — 'And the ward, being
sixteen men, besides women arid children, all puW^) the sword
saving one.' ' The council in Dublin thought better now
to liberate the earl ; and as the rebels ^.l^ut the same
time met with some serious reverses, there was a brief
lull in those Connaught disturbances.
A small company of Scots had been serving as mer-
cenaries under James Fitzmaurice. With these he crossed
the country from the Galtys to Kerry in this same year
(1572) ; but finding on his arrival that Castlemaine, his
last stronghold, had been taken, he made his way back to
Aherlow after indescribable perils and hardships. In
October, the garrison which Perrot had left in Kilmallock
surprised his party at night, and slew a number of his
Scots. This blow crushed his spirit: he was worn out
body and mind; and on an intimation being sent to him
that he would be pardoned if he promised loyalty, he sent
to the president early in 1573 to proffer hi^ submission.
Two days later, in the ruined church of Kilmallock, he
made his submission in humiliating fashion on bended
knees before the president, who held a naked sword at the
suppliant's breast. Soon after this he fled to France.
Some little time after the earl of Desmond and his
brother had been sent to London the countess joined them,
and remained with them during the rest of their stay.
They were not imprisoned : they went at large on parole
with a small allowance for support from the queen. But
it was not near enough ; and all three were exposed to
great privations, not having as much of their own aa
would buy them a pair of shoes. As the insurrection was
now considered to be at an end, they were set free
immediately after Fitzmaurice's submission, and returned
to Ireland : but Desmond was forced to promise that he
» Carem Papers, 1515-1574 p. 421
V
4S2 INSXniIlECnON, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pakt IV.
would suppress the authority of the Pope and help the
lleformation. On his arrival in Dublin with the others,
he was for some reason — O'Daly * says by private direc-
tion of the queen — again placed under arrest, and severer
conditions were required of him. But he refused to make
any further promises ; and he considered that his un-
justifiable arrest in Dublin absolved him from those forced
from him in London. He managed to escape, making his
way during the dark nights to his own territories in
Kerry: whereupon the government proclaimed him a
traitor, and offered a large reward for his apprehension.
So ended the first episode of the Geraldine rebellion.
Sir Henry Sydney came to Ireland as deputy for the
third time in September 1575. He found the country in
a deplorable state, and the English if possible worse than
the natives ; for the plague was raging in Dublin and all
through the Pale, while rebellion was seething throughout
the rest of the kingdom. He set out on a military pro-
gress through the provinces ; and going first to Ulster
received the submission of Turlogh Lynnagh and other
Ulster chiefs ; after which he proceeded through Munster
and Connaught. At Dungarvan the earl of Desmond
came to him and made his peace. Sydney remained for
six weeks in Cork, where he spent the Christmas ; after
which, at the opening of the new year (1576), he pro-
ceeded through Limerick to Gal way. Both in Cork and
Galway a large number of the leading gentry, Irish and
Anglo-Irish, wearied out with the perpetual state of
turmoil, expressed to him their anxious desire that all
should be placed under the protection of English law ; but
this request, like others of the same kind in former times
(p. 298 supra)^ came to nothing. During this journey
also he was as free of the rope as before, causing great
numbers of malefactors to be hanged.
Clanrickard's two sons had been at their old work,
and had*reduced the whole country round Galway almost
to a desert. He brought them prisoners to Dublin ; but
> History </ tite Geraldinet, translated by the Rev. C. P. Meehan,
ed. 1878, p. 72.
r"
Chap. IV. GERALDINE ElEBELLION : FIRST STAGE 433
goon released them, merely administering a severe rebuke.
Scarcely had they crossed the Shannon however when
they resumed their evil courses, and matters became as
bad as ever. On this Sydney marched rapidly west in mid-
winter (1576) and seized many of Clanrickard's towns and
castles, burning the com and slaying every human being
the soldiers could find ; and he sent the earl himself, who
was suspected of encouraging his sons, a prisoner to
Dublin. But the young men fled to the hills' where the
deputy could not get at them. He next appointed Sir
William Drury president of Munster, whose talent for
hanging and quartering has already been glanced at (p.
428); while he made Sir Nicholas Malbie 'colonel' of
Connaught, dropping the title * president,' which had
become odious fix)m the tyranny of Fitton.
No sooner had the deputy quieted the outlying pro-
vinces than he raised a new trouble at home on the question
of taxes. Ireland had been all along a continual source
of heavy expense to the English sovereigns. Djiring the
fifteen years that had elapsed from the queen's accession
to the year 1573, she had sent over 36490,779, 6t about
six millions of our present money ; while the total revenue
of Ireland during the same period did not amount to quite
one-fourth of that sum.^ It would seem that Sydney now
resolved to remedy this state of things by making Ireland
pay its own expenses. Having obtained the consent of
the English court, and without consulting the Irish par-
liament, which he knew would never agree, he prioceeded,
in 1577, to impose a new cess on the people of the Pale,
who were already grievously overburdened with exactions.
This tax, which was quite as illegal as that for which in
after times Charles I. lost his head, caused violent com-
motion all through the Pale. And when the lords and
leading gentlemen sent representatives to lay their com-
plaints respectfully before the queen, she committed the
delegates to prison. At the same time the leaders at
home were, by the queen's command, brought before the
deputy and thrown into the Castle prison for daring to
• Ware, Annals, 1673.
F F
434 INSUHEECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION J»aht IV.
question the royal prerogative. Thus at a time when
there was a ferment of rebellion all over the (Country, and
when the government were kept in continual alarm by
rumours of a foreign invasion under James Fitzmaurice,
the authorities, with blind pertinacity, did all in their
power, by harshness and tyranny, to exasperate the loyal
gentlemen of the Pale and turn them into rebels ; and in
the case of some, as we shall see, they succeeded.
At last the clamour rose to such a pitch that the
queen sent word to Sydney to settle matters as best he
could. Then a compromise was agreed to, by which the
people consented to pay by instalments an amount suffi-
cient for seven years ; the agents were released ; and the
disturbance quieted down. This transaction earned much
odium for Sydney, who was justly blamed for the im-
position of this tyrannical cess. He ended his third
deputyship in the following year (1578), and returned to
London, bringing Glanrickard with him as prisoner.
CHAPTER V
THE PLANTATIONS
The Geraldine rebellion slumbered for some years after
the submission of Fitzmaurice : let us employ the interval
in sketching the earliest of the plantations.
In the time of Queen Mary, who succeeded Edward VI.
in 1553, an entire change was made in the mode of dealing
with Irish territories whose chiefs had been subdued.
Hitherto whenever the government deposed or banished a
troublesome chief, they contented themselves with putting
in his place another, commonly English or Anglo-Irish,
more likely to be submissive : while the general body of
occupiers remained undisturbed. But now when a rebel-
lious chief was reduced, the lands, not merely those in his
own possession, but also those occupied by the whole of the
people over whom he ruled,* were confiscated — seized by the
* See pp. 67, 68, supra.
H
CoAT. Y. THE PLANTATIONS
485
crown — and given to English adventorers, utidertdkers as
they were commonly called. These men got the lands on
condition that they should bring in or plant on them a
number of English or Scotch settlers. It was of course
necessary to clear off the native population ; for which the
undertakers got military help from the government.
The Irish nation formed a part of the population over
which the kings of England claimed sovereignty: so that
here the government colonised by banishing or extermi-
nating one portion of their people to make room for
another portion, a kind of colonisation which the world
has seldom witnessed. Not one tenth of the people under
the rule of a chief ever take part in a rebellion ; and it
should be the business of a government to find out the
actual rebels and to punish them according to their deserts.
But in Ireland whole tribes, nine-tenths of whom had no
hand in rebellion, and all of whom were subjects, the
innocent and guilty, men, women, and children alike, were
all doomed to one common destruction — all extirpated —
because a small proportion of them,. headed by the chief,
had risen in rebellion. And not un&equentl|jeven this
excuse was wanting, for districts were sometimes cleared
and planted in which there had been no rebellion or
provocation of any kind. All this was quite unnecessary.
The humane and sensible course would have fully answered
the needs of the case, would have been much easier, and
would have spared all concerned immeasurablt^ woe and
misery, viz., having punished the actual rebels where
there had been rebellion, t6 let the native tillers remain
and live under the ordinary law.
Our first example of this kind of colonisation occurred
in Leix and Offaly. After the banishment of O'Moore
and O'Conor in 1547 (p. 399 supra), these two territories
were given to an Englishman named Francis Bryan and
to some others, who proceeded straightway, with all their
might, to expel the native people and parcel out the lands
to new tenants, chiefly English. "To these intending
colonists they [the Irish] were of no more value than their
own wolves, and would have been [and were} exterminated
v^
486 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Part IT.
with equal indiflference.* ' But the natives resisted ; and
the fighting went on during the whole of the reign of
Edward VI., with great loss of life to both sides, and
with enormous expense to the government, who supplied
soldiers to help the work of extermination. The settlement,
exposed to constant vengeful attacks, decayed year by
year : and in the early part of Mary's reign all the English
had been driven out, and all the castles built by Belling-
ham (p. 399) destroyed.'
If the Catholic O'Moores, O'Conors, and others, ex-
pected peace and protection after the accession of Mary,
they soon found their mistake: for now they were if
possible more ruthlessly hunted dbwn than before. And
there was no mitigation of harshness in the dealings of
the government with the Irish chiefs in general, but
rather the reverse. Now came the new departure (p. 434) ;
and the course so oftien vainly urged on Henry VIII, by
the Irish oflBcials (p. 388) was ad^ted. Leix and Oflfaly
were made crown proper^ and formed (in 1555-6) into
two counties, Leix being included in Queen's County and
OfFaly in King's County. The old fortress of Campa or
Port Leix was called Maryborough, and the fort of Dangan
Philipstown : these four names given in honour of Queen
Mary and her husband Philip.
All this district was now to be re-planted; and the
lord deputy — the earl of Sussex — was empowered, in 1558,
to build castles in place of those that had been destroyed,
and to make surveys and divide into estates and farms
which were to be let to new settlers.' Many came ; but
they had to fight for their lands from the day of their arrival.
For the natives struggled for their homes as determinedly
as ever ; and during Mary's reign, as well as subsequently,
a war of ext^mination was carried on against them. Driven
to desperation, the Irish retaliated in fierce and savage
feprisids. Some clung to their homes despite every eflfbrt
of the undertakers ; and those who were expelled hung
~> Froade, Hist, tf Eng. ed. 1870, z. 333-4.
•** Ca/rem Papert, 1616-1674, p. 344.
''^Ware'8 Awtah, 1557 ; «mw Papers, 1515-1674, pp. 291, 292, 302.
Chap. V. THE PLANTAnONS
437
round the borders, sheltering themselves in woods and bogs,
and made harrying and plundering inroads at every oppor-
tunity.
'The warfare which ensued/ writes Dr. Richey, de-
scribing this miserable struggle, ' resembled that waged
by the early settlers in America with the native tribes.
No mercy whatever was shown [to the natives], no act of
treachery was considered dishonourable, no personal tor-
tures and indignities were spared to the captives. The
atrocities of western border warfare were perpetrated year
after year in those districts ; and the government in
Dublin acquiesced in what was done and supported their
grantees. Atrocities were committed which have not yet
been forgotten. In retaliation, the natives robbed, bnrned,
and slew the settlers when opportunity offered. The mer-
ciless struggle went on far into Elizabeth's reign, until the
Celtic tribes, decimated and utterly savage, sank to the
level of banditti, and ultimately disappeared.' ' The State
Papers afford us appalling glimpses of the effects of the
inhuman career of Sussex here and elsewhere : — " A man
may ryde Southe, West, and Northe 20 or 40 myles, and
see neither house, corne, ne cattell ' : and again : — ' Many
hundreth of men, wymen, and chilldren are dedde of
famyne.' *
The sort of warfare carried on against the ^latives can
perhaps be better understood from the following^ narrative
of a transaction which took place in the nineteienth year of
Elizabeth's reign (1577) ; and those who read it will not
be surprised that the Celtic tribes, as Dr. Richey says,
ultimately disappeared. The strife had at this time some-
what quieted down ; and many Irish families who had suc-
cessfully resisted expulsion were living in Leix and Offaly
at peace with the settlers all round them. The heads of
these families were on one occasion invited by the settlers
to a friendly conference at the hill of Mullamast near the
village of Ballitore in Kildare, with as mai^y bf their fol-
lowers as they could muster. They came to the numbelr
• Richey, ShoH Hitt. 440.
s Hamilton. Calendar, 1658, p. 145, No. 46, '
488 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Part IV.
of 400— the O'Moores, O'Lalors, O'Kellys, O'Dowlings, and
others, quite unsuspicious of treachery ; and they were re-
ceived by the Cosbys, the Hartpools, the Hovedens, and
other undertakers and adventurers.
On the summit of the hill is an ancient circular fort,
with the usual low earthen wall enclosing a level space.
Here the conference was to be held ; and as soon as the
last of the Irish had filed in through the entrance, they
were surrounded by four lines of soldiers, who opened fire
on them and massacred them all. It would appear from a
document written by an English oflBcer of the time, Captain
Thomas Lee, that this deed of horror was planned and
perpetrated with the knowledge and connivance of the
lord deputy Sir Henry Sydney : but this may be doubted.
Anyhow it is remarkable and suspicious that there never
was any investigation or any attempt to bring the rois^
creants to justice. The Irish chroniclers simply record the
event without offering any explanation. Religion had
nothing to do with it ; for more than half the murderers
were Anglo-Irish Catholics, and with them, helping in the
foul work, was one native Irish Catholic family. It was
obviously an outcome of the plantations : a sure and ready
way of getting rid of the old proprietors in order to gain
possession of their lands. ^
The desperation of those who were driven from their
homes, and their tremendous reprisals on the settlers, are
well exemplified in the career of Rory Oge O'Moore. He
was chief of the O'Moores of Leix ; and for many years he
waged incessant and unrelenting warfare on the settlers
who had taken possession of his principality. In con-
junction with the O'Conors the ancient owners of Offaly,
he kept the borders of the Pale in a continual state of
alarm. His movements were astonishingly rapid, and he
appeared at places far distant from one another at incre-
dibly short intervals. Sir Henry Sydney, in a letter to the
council, expresses a doubt whether such feats ' were per-
formed by swiftness of footmanship, or rather, if it be lawful
* Four Matters, 1577, p. 1695 ; and O'Donovan's interesting and
valuable note a, p. 1694.
'-I
Chap. V. THE PLANTATIONS
439
so to deem, by sorcery or enchantment.' On many occa-
sions when his pursuers thought he was securely surrounded
he escaped in some unaccountable way.
In the course of one year (1576) he and Conor O'Conor
desolated a large part of the English settlements of Leinster,
Meath, and Fingall. The next year, the very year of
MuUamast, he suddenly appeared before Naas in the dead
of night — the night of the annual patron festival : and
while the wearied townspeople were sunk in deep sleep
after their festivities, his men entered the town at some
unguarded point, carrying lighted torches on long poles,
and set fire to the houses, which were all roofed with
thatch. Rory himself sat coolly at the market-place to
enjoy the spectacle of the blazing houses : but he did not
suffer his kern to injure or insult the terrified inhabi-
tants. In this same year he burned Carlow, Leighlin
Bridge, and many other English towns and villages in
Leinster.
He was, as I have said, the lawful prince of Leix ; yet
Sydney, knowing this perfectly well, speaks of him as ' an
obscure and base varlet called Rorye Oge O'Moore [who]
stirred and claimed authority over the whple country of
Leish.'* Sydney put forth all his efforts to hunt him
down and capture him, but for a long time without success.
' The only gall,' he writes in 1578, ' is the rebel of Lein-
ster : I waste him and kill of his men daily. To repress
the arch-traitor James Fitzmaurice and that rebel Rory
Oge, I am forced to employ no small extraordinary
charge."
On one occasion (in 1577) O'Moore seized Sir Henry
Harrington — Sydney's nephew — and one of the Cosbys,
and carried them off to his fastness in the woods. Sydney
strove to get them released; but Rory would not give
them up except on conditions that Sydney declined to
grant. At last one of his own servants betrayed him ; he
led Robert Hartpool constable of Carlow in the middle of
the night to his retreat ; and the house was surrounded
before the inmates were aware of danger. On the first
• Carem Papert, 1575-1588, p. 355. « Ibid. p. 127.
if
-(*■
/
i
4-10 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, FLANTATION Paet it. /
alarm of attack, Rory, instantly divining how matters
stood, rushed into Harrington's room and struck at him
furiously in the dark till he nearly killed him. He would /
no doubt have killed hiin downright but for the darkness ; '
and he had besides to look to his own safety. Bushing /
out he cleft a way through the military and escaped with
four companions. But his wife and all the others were
killed ; and Harrington and Cosby were rescued.
His daring and his confidence in his powers of escape
amounted to rashness, and led in the end to his destruc-
tion. Mac Gilla Patrick baron of Upper Ossory, a strong
partisan of the government — the title had purchased his
loyalty — had long been on the watch for him with a party
of royal troops and woodkem. It happened (in 1578)
that Rory, at the head of a few of his men, incautiously
reconnoitring, met them in one of their excursions ; when
Brian Oge Mac Gilla Patrick, the son of the baron, rushed
towards him and thrust his sword through his heart.
After a sharp fight his body was borne away by his
followers : but his head was subsequently sent to Sydney,
who after the usual fashion spiked it on Dublin Castle.
After the attainder of Shane O'Neill, more than half of
Ulster was confiscated ; and the attempt to clear off the
old natives and plant new settlers was commenced without
delay. In 1570 the peninsula of Ardes in Down was
granted, without the least thought of the rights of the
actual owners, to the queen's secretary Sir Thomas Smith,
who sent his illegitimate son with a colony to take
possession. But this plantation was a failure, for the
owners, the O'Neills of Clandeboy, not feeling inclined to
part with their rights without a struggle, attacked and
killed the young undertaker in 1573.
The next undertaker was a more important man,
Walter Devereux earl of Essex. In 1573 he undertook
to plant the district now occupied by the county Antrim,
together with the island of Rathlin ; and he was joined by
several English nobles, all expecting to make their for-
tunes. The better to enable him to carry out the project
with facility, he was given power to make laws ; to make
CHAr. V. THE PLANTATIONS 441
war ; to harry and destroy the castles, houses, and lands of
* Irish outlaws ' — i.e. of the natives in general, and to
annoy them by fire and sword ; to impress them to work
as slaves in his service : and as we shall see he took
advantage of his powers to the fullest extent. He was to
get for himself half the lands : the rest was to be given to
settlers at a rent of twopence an acre : and ,the planting
was to go on till two thousand English families were
settled.'
He selected for his first attempt Clandeboy, the terri-
tory of Brian O'Neill, in which at this time large numbers
of Scots were living. From that time forward during the
two years or so that he remained in the north, ' his dealings
with the native chiefs seem almost a counterpart of those
of the Spaniards with the Mexican caciques.' *
On his arrival he gave out that he came merely to
expel the Scots, and that he meant no harm to the Irish :
and by orders of the queen the deputy Fitzwilliam spread
a report to the same effect. But the northern Chiefs were
not to be hoodwinked by such shallow knavery. Brian
O'Neill had at first unsuspectingly submitted : but it was
not long till he and his neighbours — Turlogh Lynnagh,
the Mac Mahons, Sorley Boy chief of the Mac Donnells, and
others — saw good reason to be alarmed for their lands : and
open hostilities commenced and never ceased while Essex
remained. He waged savage war on the natives, stopping
short at no amount of slaughter and devastation — burning
their com and depopulating the country to the best of his
ability by sword and starvation. Most of the nobles who
had come over with him grew tired of this sort of life, and
after a time left him ; and he found it hard to hold his
ground ; for his men, being most of them mere farmers
and artisans, were quite unfit for service as soldiers.
At last when open warfare failed him he adopted other
means to retrieve his failing fortunes. He ij^uced Conn
O'Donnell son of Calvagh (chief of TirconnelJ!) to enter
into alliance with him (1573) ; but no sooner had the
• <7<7r<?»r i»a;»cr«, 1515-1574, pp. 439 to 443.
• Richey, Short HUUny, 617.
442 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION PabtIT.
youug chief come to the English camp than the earl,
on some pretence or another, seized him, sent him to
Dublin a prisoner, and took possession of his castle of
Lifford.
Finding that he was nnable to wrest Clandeboy from
Brian O'Neill, he made peace with him in 1574; after
which O'Neill, glad no doubt to have an end of the strife,
invited the earl with a large party to a banquet. When
they had spent three days very pleasantly, the festivities
came to a sudden and tragical termination. The earl
suddenly called in his guards, and — in the words of the
Four Masters — ' Brian, his brother, and his wife, were
seized upon by the earl, and all his people put-unsparingly
to the sword, men, women, youths and maidens, in
Brian's own presence. Brian was afterwards sent to
Dublin together with his wife and brother, where they
were cut in quarters.' '
But all the other deeds of this planter are thrown into
the shade by his treatment of the Scots of Clandeboy and
Rathlin Island. How he dealt with these is related in
detail by himself in one of his letters to the queen. He
first attacked those of Clandeboy, who do not appear to
have at that time given any provocation, and defeated
them several times, killing them mercilessly whenever they
fell under his power ; of which he relates many revolting
details. At last their chief, Sorley Boy, finding himself
unable to resist any longer, made an offey of submission,
asking to be allowed to keep his lands in the service of the
queen ; and he sent day by day suing for peace.
At this period, and for a long time before, the Scots
had a settlement on the island of Rathlin. It seems that
Sorley Boy, having come to hear of the impending attack
on Clandeboy, had sent his children and valuables, and
the wives and children of the neighbouring gentlemen,
with all the old and the sick, to the island for safety,
80 that the place now swarmed with defenceless people.
None of those living on the island had given any provoca-
tion whatever; yet while the offer of their chief was
• Fofwr Master*^ 1574.
Chaf. V, THE PLANTATIONS
^ 448
pending, an expedition was secretly and suddenly sent by
the earl on the 20th July, 1575, from Carrickfergus, with
orders to attack the island and kill all that could be found
there. This expedition was commanded by .Captain John
Norris — of whom more will be heard further on in this
book. Essex himself did not "accompany it. The Scots
defended themselves bravely for some time, but were at
last driven to take refuge in their stronghold, now a ruin
known as Bruce's Castle. The garrison consisted of about
fifty men, with about 150 refugees, chiefly women and
children. The rest of the transaction is best told in
Essex's own words in his letter to the queen : —
'Before day they called for a parle, which Captain
Norreys, wisely considering the danger that might light
upon his company, and willing to avoid the killing of the
soldiers . . . was content to accept and hear their offers
. . . upon which he [the constable or captain of the
castle] came out, and made large requests, as their lives,
their goods, and to be put into Scotland, which request
Captain Norreys refused, offering them as slenderly as
they did largely require — viz. to the aforesaid constable
his life, and his wife's, and his child's, the place and
goods to be delivered at Captain Norreys' disposition ; the
captain to be a prisoner one month ; the lives of all
within to stand upon the courtesy of the soldiers. The
constable, knowing his estate and safety to be very doubt>-
ful, accepted the composition, and came out with all his
company. The soldiers being moved and much stirred
with the loss of their fellows that were slain, and desirous
of revenge, made request, or rather pressed to have the
killing of them ; which they did, all saving the persons
to whom life was promised. There were slain, which
came out of the castle of all sorts [i.e. refugees and non-
combatants as well as soldiers] 200.' '
The massacre did not end here, however. The rest
of the people of the island, including the crowds of women
and children, were hunted down day after day and
slaughtered. * News is brought me,' tie earl continues,
• lAveg of the Earls of Etsex, i. 115, 116. ,
/
444 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Part IVi
* that they be occupied still in killing, and have slain, that
they have found hidden in caves and cliffs of the sea, to
the number of 300 or 400 more.'
While this frightful work was going on the old chief
Sorley Boy stood on the shore of the mainland, from which
he could plainly see — some four miles off— the movements
of the soldiers ; the smoke of their guns ; the blaze of
burning houses ; and the groups of refugees as they rushed
to the shelter of the sea-caves; and he ran about dis-
tracted, tearing himself in the madness of his grief and
despair. Essex got a full account of the expedition im-
mediately after, including the pathetic incident of the old
man's grief, all which he describes in a letter to an English
friend. ' Sorley then also,' he writes, ' stood upon the
mainland of the Glynnes, and saw the taking of the island,
and was likely to run mad for sorrow, tearing and tor-
menting himself, as the spy sayeth.* It appears from
this letter that, as Dr. Richey ' observes, ' far from being
indignant at this butchery, he thought the conduct of the
soldiers highly commendable.'
But Essex's prospects did not grow the brighter for
all this villainy. The native tribes still proved too strong
for him ; he was thwarted by his enemies at court ; and
after many attempts to obtain further support, he returned
to Dublin, broken in spirit, where he died in 1576 : some
say poisoned by his rival the Earl of Leicester. A by-
stander has left us a most sanctimonious description of
this man's death : ' More like that of a divine preacher
or heavenly prophet than a man ' ; * he never let pass an
hour without many most sweet prayers ' ; * he piously be-
wailed the general prevalence of infidelity, but not a word
about his own murderous career ; and he passed from the
world as calmly as if he had lost all memory of the
• A Short History of the Irish People, p. 621. Dr. Richey writes
with fairness to both sides ; but having told here with natural indigna-
tion the whole story of Essex's atrocities, he has a note at p. 122 :
' Irish writers naturally misrepresent the earl of Essex,' which reads
like grim irony. Where is the need for misrepresentation f
» Froude, Hiti. of Eng. ed. 1870, p. 545,
Chap. V. THE PLANTATIONS
445
ghrieks of the women and children in the eea-caves of
Rathlin.^
In order to make the reader understand what the
plantations were, I have described the foregoinpf in some
detail: the others will be told more briefly. They kept
the country in a state of civil war, incited and fostered
by the government : civil war of the worst kind, because
its object was not so much victory on either side as
mutual extermination. They all from first to last present
much the same general features : — massacre and extirpation
on the one hand; resistance, desperate, vengeful, and
persistent, on the other. It is doubtful whether, within
the range of history, any government ever decreed a
measure dealing with its own people that caused such
wholesale destruction of human life, such widespread and
long-continued misery, as these plantations, 'the massacres
of Rathlin and MuUamast and the great rebellion of 1641
were only a part of their tremendous consequences. They
left to posterity a disastrous legacy of strife and hatred ;
and to their malign influence we owe in part the long
and bitter land-war that still continues to convulse the
country.
CHAPTER VI
THE GERALDINE REBELUON : SECOND STAGE
James Fitzmaurice had resided in France since the time
of his flight from Kilmallock (p. 431). His mind con-
tinued as active as ever, and his whole thought was to
obtain aid from the Catholic sovereigns for his fellow-
countrymen at home. In 1579 he applied to Henry III.
of France and to Philip II, of Spain, but got no help from
either, as both happened then to be at peace with Queen
Elizabeth. Philip however recommended him to Pope
Gregory XIII. ; and to Rome be next bent his way. The
Pope fitted out for him a small squadron of three ships
* For a detailed account of Essex's proceedings see 77ie MacdonnelU
vf Antrim, by the Rev. George Hill, pp. 152-186.
446 rNSURKECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION PabtIV.
with 700 Italian soldiers ; and at the request of Fitz-
maurice it was placed under the command of one Thoma^
Stukely : the same Stukely who had formerly figured as
a commissioner to Shane O'Neill (p. 416). He was a
clever, unprincipled English adventurer, who managed
to hoodwink his employers into a belief of his sincere
attachment to the cause of Ireland. On the voyage he
touched at Lisbon. Here he met with King Sebastian
of Portugal, who was at this very time preparing an ex-
pedition against the kiijig of Morocco. Captivated by
the brilliancy of this new adventure, the volatile Stukely
was easily persuaded to join it ; and the Irish never heard
any more of him or his squadron.
Meantime Fitzmaurice embarked for Ireland (1579)
in three small ships which he had procured in Spain, with
about eighty Spaniards, accompanied by Dr. Allen, a Jesuit,
and by Dr. Sanders, a celebrated English ecclesiastic, the
Pope's legate. Expecting to meet Stukely on the Irish
coast, he landed in 1579 at the little harbour of Smerwick
in Kerry, and took possession of a fort called Dunanore —
the fort of gold; which the Spaniards, translating the
name into their own language, called Fort-del-or ; perched
on top of a rock jutting into the sea. Here he was joined
by Desmond's two brothers, John and James Fitzgerald,
and by 200 of the O'Flahertys of West Connaught, who
had come round by sea expecting all Munster to rise in arms.
The earl of Desmond himself, who was timid and
vacillating, still held aloof; and though his heart was in
the cause, he took great pains to convince the authorities
of his loyalty. Long before the expedition of Fitzmaurice,
the government had received through their spies alarming
information of a projected invasion ; and a month before
his arrival at Smerwick, three strangers were landed from
a Spanish ship at Dingle : — Dr. Patrick O'Haly bishop of
Mayo, the Rev. Cornelius O'Rourke, and another. They
were instantly seized by the government officials and
brought before Desmond, who sent them straight to pre-
sident Drury, a man, as he well knew, of merciless severity.
By him they were put to horrible torture to force them
Chap. VL GERAIDINE REBELLION : SECOND STAGE 417
to tell what they knew of Fitzmaurice; and when he
found that they either could not or would not tell him
anything, he had them hanged. I
While Fitzmaurice was in Dunanore Sir Henry Davells
constable of Dungarvan, and Arthur Carter provost-
marshal of Munster, were sent by the lord justice Sir
William Drury to the Earl of Desmond, directing him to
attack Dunanore. On their return journey they stopped
at an inn in Tralee, whither John Fitzgerald followed
them, and forcing his way into the inn at night, murdered
them both in their beds. It is difficult to 'discover the
motive for this deed, which could not in any possible way
serve the cause of the confederates; and what made it
all the blacker was the fact that Fitzgerald and Davells
had been before that intimate friends. It was hard for
an undertaking to succeed that began with so foul a
crime.
About a week after the expedition had landed, the
O'Flahertys, seeing that the Munster people did not rise
as they expected, sailed away home; and on tl^e26th July
(1579) Fitzmaurice saw his own three vessels captured
before his eyes by a government war-ship, ^d now the
doomed little band, abandoning Dunanore in desperation,
fled northwards und^ the three Fitzgeralds, John, James,
and Fitzmaurice, to reach the great wood of Kylemore
near Charleville, which had often afforded Fitzmaurice a
safe asylum in days gone by. Desmond had invested the
fort in accordance with Drury's directions ; but the go-
vernment believed he was not in earnest, and that he in-
tentionally allowed the little garrison to escape. Never-
theless he now closely pursued them, so that the fugitives
were forced at last to separate into three parties headed by
the three Fitzgeralds.
Fitzmaurice with his men made for the Shannon, in-
tending to cross into Clare ; but while passing through
Clanwilliam in the county Limerick, their horses became
so jaded that they had to seize the horses from a plough
belonging to William Burke of Castleconnell, who wag
nearly related to Fitzmaurice. Burke's two ^sons with
448 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Past IT.
O'Brien of Ara pursued ttetn to recover the animals.
When they had come up with them at Barrington's Bridge,
Fitzmaurice appealed to them not to quarrel with their
cousin for the sake of a couple of garrons ; but the Burkes
fired on the little party, and Fitzmaurice was mortally
wounded. Rushing into the midst of his assailants, with
two furious blows he slew the two Burkes, whose followers
instantly fled ; and he died in a few hours in the arms of
T)r. Allen, from whom he received the last sacraments.
HiiLbody was afterwards found by the English, who cut it
into quarters, which they hung on the gates of Kilmallock.
William Burke was soon after created baron of Castle-
connell, with a pension, as a reward for the destruction of
Fitzmaurice, and in some sort as a recompence for the loss
of his sons.
James Fitzmaurice was a man of noble mind and of
pure patriotic motives, able, active, and steadfast in pur-
pose ; he was the life and soul of the movement, and his
death was an irreparable loss to the Geraldine league.
John Fitzgerald now took command of the Munster in-
surgents ; and soon collected a considerable force, which
WM disciplined by the Spanish officers who had come over
with Fitzmaurice. As for the earl of Desmond, he came
to lord justice Drury, who was then at Kilmallock, to
assure him he had nothing to do with the rebellion ; but
his conduct had been so suspicious that Drury had him
arrested. He was liberated however in a few days, on
giving up his only son James — then a child in charge of
a nurse — as a hostage for his loyalty in the future : and a
promise was made that his territory should be respected.
Drury now mustered his forces, and dividing them
into several bodies, he despatched them in difierent direc-
tions in search of the insurgents. One of these parties
came upon the Irish army under John and James Fitz-
gerald, at a place called Grort-na-tubbrid or Springfield in
the south of the county Limerick ; and after a desperate
fight the English were defeated with a loss of 300 men.
After this Drury, quite worn out by fatigue, anxiety, and
worry, took sick j and, leaving Sir Nicholas Malbie in
Chap. VL GERALDINE KEBELIION: SEC02fD STAGE 419
command of the army, he retired to Waterford, where he
died early in October. Malbie soon after can^e up with the
rebel army to the number of 2,000 at Monasteranenagh
near Groom. Here was fought another battle in which
the English retrieved their recent loss ; for the Irish were
defeated with a loss of 260 killed, among whom were Dr.
Allen and several of Desmond's kinsmen. Desmond wit-
nessed this battle from the top of Tory Hill about a mile
distant, but made no move to join either party. After the
battle he sent to congratulate Malbie, who, we are told,
received the message with coldness and contempt.
Up to the present the earl had not joined the in-
surgents: but Malbie was determined to goad him into
rebellion ; and with this object he marched — without any
provocation and in violation of the engagement made with
him— through his territories, wasting 'and ruining town
and country, abbey and homestead ; and as usual killing
all whom the soldiers could find. Malbie was now joined by
Sir William Pelham, the newly appointed lord justice, with
the earls of Ormond and Kildare ; and Ormond, who had
been appointed general of the army, including large rein-
forcements that had just arrived from England, was sent
to the earl with a summons that he should present himself
at the camp ; join the royal forces against the rebels ;
deliver up the papal legate Dr. Sanders, as well as the
Spanish strangers ; and surrender his castles of Askeaton
and Carrigafoyle. Judging from the earl's response, he
could have been managed easily enough if Pelham had
wished for peace. Knowing the men he had to deal with,
he naturally refused to come to the camp. But he sent
his countess (in the end of October 1579) and wrote letters
complaining of the wrongs Malbie had inflicted on him,
and offering, if his castles — those taken by Malbie — were
restored and his losses recompensed, to serve in the royal
army 'against my unnatural brethren, the traitor Dr.
Sanders, and their adherents.' Pelham's reply was to issue
a proclamation after two days, declaring him a traitor.
His crimes and misdemeanors are enumerated, many of
them, such as the murder of Davells, being matters he had
G O
460 INSURRECTION, CONnSCATION. PLANTATION PabtIV.
nothing to do with ; and there was really no sufficient
reason at all for proclaiming him.*
At last Desmond, driven to desperation, joined his
brothers and rose in open rebellion ; but his accession was
of small advantage to the confederates, for he had no
firmness of character, and was quite unfit to command.
The frightful civil war broke out now more virulently than
before ; and brought the country to such a state as had
never yet been witnessed. It was indeed hardly a war at
all in the proper sense of the word. Several hostile bands
belonging to both sides traversed the country for months,
destroying everything and wreaking vengeance on the
weak and defenceless, but never meeting, or trying to meet,
in battle.'
Desmond, passing through the territories of the Barrys
and the Roches in Cork — who, looking on passively, made
no attempt to prevent him and gave no information ' —
plundered, burned, and utterly ruined the rich and pros-
perous town of Youghal, at Christmas 1579, so that not a
house was left fit to live in. So thorough had been the
work of destruction, that when the earl of Ormond, in
his fearful march of havoc, fire, and slaughter, through
Desmond's territories, came round that way a little later,
he found no human being in the town but one poor friar,
who had charitably brought the body of Davells all the
way from Tralee to Waterford to have it interred in the
family sepulchre. But the town was rebuilt soon after-
wards.
Pelham and Ormond carried fire and sword through
the country, sparing no living thing that fell in their way.
The rebels burned and spoiled ; but we find no evidence
that they massacred. Hear now the account Pelham
himself, writing in March 1580, gives of his manner of
carrying on hostilities. In a single day's march from
Shanid Castle towards Glin : — * Finding the country plen-
tiful and the people but newly fled . . . there were slain
that day by the fury of the soldiers above 400 people
• See all this related in Carem Papers, 1575-1588, pp. 160-164.
' Ibur Masters, 1680. * Qtrem Papers, 1675-1688, p. 189.
Chap. VI. GERALDINE REBELLION : SECOND STAGE 451
found in the woods [i.e. the poor common people fleeing
with their families from the destroyers], and wheresoever
any house or corn was found, it was consumed by fire.' '
Here also is the Four Masters' account^ of the same
journey: — * He [lord justice Pelhara] sent r forth loose
marauding parties into Kylemore (in Cork), into the woods
of Clonlish (in Limerick), and into the wilds of Delliga
(in Cork). These, wheresoever they passed, showed mercy
neither to the strong nor to the weak. It was not
wonderful that they should kill men fit for action: hat
they killed blind and feeble men, boys and girls, sick
persons, idiots, and old people.' Those of the country
people that escaped the sword, who had nothing to do
with the rebellion, being deprived of their means of sub-
sistence, died in hundreds of mere starvation. Great
numbers of the English also perished, partly by famine
and partly by the avenging reprisals of the peasantry.
Before the end of the year (1580) the queeu received
a full account of what was passing in Ireland. She was
incensed at the conduct of Pelham in needlessly proclaim*
ing Desmond, and at the destruction of Youghal ; and she
wrote him angry letters of censure.'
For the rebels it was a losing game all through.
Pelham and Ormond took Desmond's strongholds one by
one. Carrigafoyle Castle on the south shore of the Shannon
was his strongest fortress. It was valiantly defended by
fifty Irishmen and nineteen Spaniards, commanded by
Count Julio an Italian engineer : but afber being battered
by cannon till a breach was made, it was taken by storm
about the 27th March. Without delay the whole garrison,
including Julio with six Spaniards and some women, were
hanged or put to the sword.* And here it may be observed
that the general practice of the English commanders
throughout this rebellion was to execute all persons foand
in castles surrendered after siege. In a few days after
the capture of this fortress the garrisons of some others of
* C(vrew Paper*, 1676-1688, p. 236. * AJ>. Ifi90» p. 1731.
* Carem Papert, 1575-1588, p. 186.
* Tuis is Telham's own account : Carew Papen, 1675-1S88, pp. ?d7-&
« a S
452 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATTOK PabtIY.
Desmond's castles, inclading Askeaton, abandoned them,
terrified by the fate of Carrigafoyle. They attempted to
blow up Askeaton: but they only injured, not destroyed it.*
James Fitzgerald, the earl's youngest brother, was
captured while making a raid on the territories of Sir
Cormac Mac Carthy the sheriff of Cork. He was straight-
way sent to Cork where he was hanged and quartered;
and his head was spiked over one of the city gates.
How thoroughly odious the authorities had made
themselves in Ireland is evidenced all through the State
Papers of this time : * even their own servants 'secretly
sympathised with the rebels. Pelham writes repeatedly
that there was a settled hatred of the English government,
and believed that if only a fair opportunity should offer,
such as the landing of even 1,000 Spaniards, the whole
body of chiefs, native and Anglo-Irish, would rise in
rebellion. His manner of providing against this con-
tingency was quite characteristic. He invited the lords
and gentlemen of Munster to a conference at Limerick ;
men who had never given any indication of sympathy
with the rebels : and no sooner had they unsuspectingly
presented themselves than he had them all arrested ; and
he kept them locked up till such time as he thought they
could be liberated with safety.'
Meantime while Pelham and Ormond still traversed
Munster, burning, destroying, and slaying, from Limerick
to the remote extremities of the Kerry peninsulas, the.
insurrection blazed up in Leinster under James Eustace
viscount Baltinglass, who, exasperated by the illegal and
oppressive cess imposed by Sydney as well as by his
imprisonment — for he was one of those thrown into jail at
the time (p. 433) — and alarmed at the steps taken by the
government to force Protestantism on the people, flew to
arms. And he had for his allies the O'Byrnes under their
chief the famous Fiach Mac Hugh O'Byrne — ' the firebrand
of the mountains ' — as well as the O'Tooles, the Kavanaghs,
» ikirew Papers, 1575-1588, pp. 241, 243,
« Ibid. pp. 189, 209, 220, 258. 284.
» ■■-■ » Jbid. pp. 280, 282
Chap. VL GERALDINE EI^ELLION : SECOND STAGE 458
the O'Moores, and some of the Fitzgeralda. But this
rising was an insane proceeding; for considering the
complete isolation of the rebels and the slender means at
their disposal, they might have foreseen that there never
was the remotest chance of success.
The newly appointed justice, Lord Grey of Wilton,
who succeeded Pelham, at once mustered his men, includ-
ing 600 he had brought from England, and in August
1580 marched into the heart of Wicklow in pursuit of
this insurgent army, who had retired into the recesses of
Glenmalure. He had with him the earl of Kildare, James
Wingfield, and two brothers, George and Peter Carew,
nephews of Sir Peter Carew already mentioned (p. 425).
This glen was the most savage and inaccessible of all the
defiles of Wicklow. Shut in by steep hills and frowning
crags, it was then clothed with woods from the hill-tops
down to the very torrent — the Avonbeg — by which it i^
traversed. Hooker, a contemporary English writer, who
was probably present,* describes it as : — ^- Under foot
boggy and soft, and full of great stones and slippery rocks,
very hard and evil to pass through ; the sides are full of
great and mighty trees upon the sides of the hills, and full
of bushments and underwoods.'
Into this dangerous defile Lord Grey, with foolish
confidence, eager to signalise himself by some glorious
exploit, ordered the main body of his infantry, while he
himself encamped on an eminence towards "the naouth.
Meantime Fiach and the others had placed their men in
ambush high up the valley, among the trees on both sides
of the stream. The English made their way with the
greatest diflficulty, perplexed with bogs, rocks, and thick
brushwood. Suddenly the silence was broken by a deadly
volley, which was repeated over and over again, though
not an enemy was to be seen. The advance party were
almost all shot down without the possibility of striking a
blow, and among them fell four distinguished officers : —
Colonel John Moore, Francis Cosby general of the kern
> He was asrent to Sir Ptter Carew, and wrote a History qf Ireland
from 1646 to 1586.
454 INSURRECmON, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paht IT.
of Leix, Sir Peter Carew, and another named Audley.
And Grey with the remnant of his army hastily returned
crestfallen to Dublin. After this, Baltinglass plundered
and devastated the Pale almost to the walls of Dublin,
without any opposition.
The dying hopes of the Munster insurgents were
somewhat revived by the news from Glenmalure ; and
now their fortune seemed to take another favourable turn.
The long expected aid from the Continent at length
arrived: 700 Spaniards and Italians landed about the
1st October 1580 from four vessels at Smerwick, bringing
a large supply of money and arms. They took possession
of the ill-omened old fort of Dunanore, and proceeded to
fortify it. They expected to see the people join them in
crowds : but Ormond and Pelham had done their work so
thoroughly that the peasantry held aloof, trembling with
the fear of another visitation.
After nearly six weeks' effort to collect forces, Lord
Grey, breathing vengeance after his recent defeat, arrived
at Smerwick, having been joined on the way by the earl of
Ormond ; and accompanied also by Sir Richard Bingham
and many other experienced captains. At the same time
admiral Winter arrived early in November with the
English fleet, so that the fort was invested both by sea
and land. The siege was now carried on vigorously:
trenches were dug and cannons battered the defences;
and at the end of a few days the garrison, seeing they
could not hold out, surrendered. The Irish authorities,
including the Four Masters, say that they were promised
their lives : the English, including Grey himself, assert
they surrendered at discretion ; which is very improbable,
inasmuch as they had plenty of arms, ammunition, and
provisions. But all this seems of small consequence in
face of the episode of horror that followed, which may be
told in the deputy's own words : — ' I sent streighte certeyne
gentlemen to see their weapons and armoires laid down,
and to guard the munitions and victual then left from
spoyle ; then put I in certeyne bandes who streighte fell to
execution. There were 600 slain.' After the execution
Chap. VI. GERALDINE REBELLION : SECOND STAGE 456
the few women found there were hanged. Leland, who,
though not an unprejudiced historian, always recoiled from
inhumanity by whomsoever perpetrated, conc^ud6s his de-
scription of the siege with these words : — * "The Italian
general and some officers were made prisoner^of war ; but
the garrison was butchered in cold blood ; nor is it without
pain that we find a service so horrid uid detestable com-
mitted to Sir Walter Raleigh. The usua^ and obvious
excuses were made for this severity. . . . But such pre-
tences and such professions could not excuse the odious-
ness of this action. On the Continent it was received with
horror.* '
Many of the rebels would now gladly make submission ;
but Pelham attached a horrible condition : — ' I do not
receive any ' — he writes — * but such as come with bloody
hands or execution of some person better , than them-
selves.'^ I
During the next year (1581) Grey and his officers
carried on the war with relentless barbarity. *I keep
them from their harvest' — Pelham writes — 'and have
taken great preys of cattle from them, by which it seemeth
the poor people that lived only upon their labour, and fed
by their milch cows, are so distressed that they follow
their goods and offer themselves with their wives and
children rather to be slain by the army than to suffer the
famine that now in extremity beginneth to pinch them.''
None seem to have been spared, whether rebels or
those well affected to the government ; and Grey drove
many loyal men, both old English and native Irish, to
rebellion and ruin. David Purcell, the owner of Ballycnl-
hane, who had hitherto * assisted the crown from the very
commencement of the Geraldine war,' on one occasion went
out to resist a number of soldiers from Adare who were
plundering his lands ; and he slew nearly th^ whole party.
Whereupon, when the few survivors arrived with their
story, Captain Achen who commanded at Adare, marcl^ng
straight to Ballyculhane, took the castle in PurcelFs
• Leland : Higtory of Irelamd, ii. 283.
* Caren Papers 1576-1588, p. 287. » lUi. p. 293.
4^6 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paut IT.
absence, and ' slew 150 women and children, and every
sort of persons he met with inside and outside the castle.'
Purcell was captured soon after in Scattery Island by
Mac Mahon of Corcobaskin in Clare, who hanged all his
followers and sent David himself to Limerick where he was
executed.' ' Thus from year to year the plundering and
killing went on, until there was nothing left to plunder,
and very few to kill.' '
A report now (1581) went round of treason even
within the Pale : that there was a plot to seize Dublin
Castle and massacre the English. When this came to
Grey's ears he took up a number of the supposed con-
spirators and, as the mania for hanging still possessed him,
he sent forty-five of them straight to the gallows ; among
others Lord Nugent baron of the Irish exchequer. He
also arrested on suspicion the earl of Kildare and his son,
and the baron of Delvin, and being probably afraid to
hang these powerful persons, sent them for trial to
England. But they proved their innocence ; and now
indeed it was made clear that many or all of those he had
hanged were equally innocent.
The fortunes of the Munster insurgents sometimes
rose and sometimes fell ; but gradually, as time went on,
their cause became weaker. John Fitzgerald, the earl's
brother, still maintained a desperate struggle in Cork.
But on one occasion, in 1582, as he rode attended by a
few followers, their steps were dogged by a spy, who gave
information to Zouch, governor of Munster. Quite sud-
denly they found themselves surrounded by soldiers ; and
in attempting to escape, Fitzgerald was cut down and
killed : and his head was sent to Dublin, where it was
spiked on the Castle. His death extinguished the last
hopes of the insurgents.
But the massacre at Dunanore and the savage cruelty
of lord deputy Grey got noised all through England ; and
it began to be felt that instead of quieting Ireland he was
rather fanning rebellion by his barbarities. In the words
• Four Moitert, 1581, p. 1759. * Richey, Short HUt. p. 494.
Chap, VI. GERALDINE REBELLION : SECOND STAGE 4G7
of Lei and : • — • Repeated complaints were made of the in-
human rigour practised by Grey and his officers. The
queen was assured that he tyrannised with such barbarity
that little was left in Ireland for her majesty to reign
over but carcases and ashes. And such was the effect of
these representations that a pardon was offered to those
rebels who would accept it [from which however the earl of
Desmond was excluded] : Lord Grey was recalled (1582) :
and Loftus archbishop of Dublin, and Sir Henry Wallop,
treasurer at war, were appointed lords justices.'
And now (1582) the great earl of Desmond, the
master of almost an entire province, the inheritor of vast
estates, and the owner of numerous castles, was become a
homeless outlaw, with a price on his head, dogged by
spies everywhere, and hunted from one hiding place to
another. Through all his weary wanderings he had been
accompanied by his faithful wife and by Dr. Sanders. The
unhappy countess never left him except a few times when
she went to intercede for him. On one of these occasions
she sought an interview with lord justice Pelham himself,
and on her knees implored mercy for her husband : ^ but
her tears and entreaties were all in vain. In the preceding
winter he had lost his faithful friend Dr. Sanders, who
sank at last under the cold and hardship of their miserable
life.
Sometimes we find him with not more than four
followers, sometimes at the head of several hundred.
Hear the description of their mode of life left us by the
contemporary Anglo-Irish writer Hooker : — ' Where they
did dress their meat thence they would remove to eat it
in another place, and from thence go to another place to
lie. In the nights they would watch: in the forenoon
they would be upon the hills and mountains to descry the
country : and in the afternoon they would sleep.'
On one occasion in the depth of winter, in January
1583, when he was hiding in the wood of Kilquegg near
his own old capital, Kilmallock, a plan was laid to capture
' Hut. of Irel. a. 287.
' So writes Pelham, Carew Papers, 1575-1588, p. 293.
j^
"\*^
468 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION PabtIV.
him and earn the reward. The soldiers, led by the spy,
John Walsh, had actually arrived at the hut, when the
earl heard the noise of footsteps, and he and the countess
rushed out in the darkness to the river that flowed hard
by, which was swollen by rains ; and plunging in, concealed
themselves under a bank with only their heads over the
water, till the party had left.
Another time, when he had a company of sixty gallo-
glasses, Captain Dowdall surprised them in the glen of
Aherlow while they were cooking part of a horse for their
dinner. Many of the galloglasses were killed in their
master's defence : twenty were captured and executed on
the spot ; and the others with the earl himself escaped.
At last he got among his own mountains of Kerry ;
and a party of the O'Moriartys, from whom the earl's
people had taken some cows for subsistence, traced him to
Glanageenty, about five miles east of Tralee. Late on a
November evening, Donall O'Moriarty, with a company of
soldiers and some others, ascended an eminence and saw a
light in the glen beneath ; and one of them going down,
discovered a small party in a hut. He returned noiselessly
with the news, and they remained there till the dawn of
next morning, when they approached the hut and suddenly
rushed in with a loud shout. They found however only
one venerable looking man, a woman, and a boy ; all the
rest had made their escape. One of the soldiers named
Kelly broke the old man's arm with a blow of his sword ;
on which he cried out — ' I am the earl of Desmond ; spare
my life ! ' But Kelly dragged him forth and cut oflf his
head. The head was afterwards sent for a present to the
queen, who had it spiked on London Bridge.
The Geraldine rebellion as well as the rising in
Leinster may be said to have ended with the death of the
earl of Desmond. Viscount Baltinglass fled to Spain,
where he died broken-hearted. The war had madeMunster
a desert. In the words of the Four Masters : — ' The lowing
of a cow or the voice of a ploughman could scarcely be
heard from Dunqueen in the West of Kerry to Cashel.'
To what a frightful pass the wretched people had been
I
Chap. TL QERALDINE REBELLION : SECOND 'STAGE 459
brought by the constant destruction and spoiling of their
crops and cattle, may be gathered from Edmund Spenser's
description of what he witnessed with his own eyes : —
'Notwithstanding that the same [province of Munster]
was a most rich and plentiful coimtrey, full of come and
cattle, yet ere one yeare and a halfe they [the people]
were brought to such wretchednesse as that any stony
hart would have rued the same. Out of every comer of
the woods and glynnes they came creeping forth upon
their hands, for their legges could not beare them ; they
looked like anatomies of death, they spake, like ghosts
crying out of their graves ; they did eate the d^ad carrions,
happy where they could finde them, yea and one another
soone after, insomuch as the very carcasses they spared
not to scrape out of their graves ; and if they found a
plot of watercresses or shamrocks there they flocked as to
a feast for the time : that in short space of time there were
none [i.e. no people] almost lefb, and a most populous and
plentifull country suddaiuelyleft voide of man and beast.'*
It is but justice to observe that Spenser did not write
these words — sympathetic as some of them are — with any
kind or merciful intention. On the contrary, be^ suggested,
plainly enough though indirectly, that the same thing
should be done over again : that the means of subsistence
should be destroyed and the people killed off by starvation,
not only in Munster but all over Ireland, as ike best way
to reduce the country to subjection. j
One other individual tragedy formed a fitting close to
the gory horrors of the rebellion. The Pope had conse-
crated as archbishop of Cashel, Dermot O'Hurly an Irish
, priest then resident in Rome, who immediately, proceeded
to Ireland to take up his dangerous duties, knowing well
his fate if he should be arrested. His arrival was known
and the spies were on his track, but for two years he
eluded them through the faithful watehfulness of his people.
He was at length taken; and some suspicious papers
being found on him, he was brought before the Dublin
council consisting of Loftus archbishop of Dublin and Sir
» Viem of the State of Ireland, ed. 1809, p. 166.
4C0 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION PLANTATION Pap-t 17,
Henry Wallop, and examined ; but he positively refused
to give information. Archbishop Loftus, who had the chief
management of the business, writes : — * Not finding that
easy method of examination to do any good, we made
commission to put him to the torture such as your honour
fWalsinghara in London] advised us, which was to toast
lis feet against the lire with hot boots.' * There is hardly
need to go beyond this : but the Irish accounts say that the
boots were of tin, into which boiling oil was poured till
the flesh fell off the bones. As he would confess nothing
material, Loftus and Wallop, having obtained permission
from England, had him executed in June 1584.
CHAPTER VII
THE FIRST PLANTATION OF MUNSTEB
Thebe was a calm, the calm of exhaustion, all over the
country ; and in June, 1584, Sir John Perrott was ap-
pointed lord deputy. At the same time Sir Thomas Norris
was made president of Munster, and Sir Richard Bingham
governor of Connaught, in place of Sir Nicholas Malbie,
who had recently died at Athlone. Perrott's first proceed-
ing was to make a circuit through the west and south ;
and as he had the reputation of being a just man, he was
well received everywhere. Yet he was not able to lift his
mind above the brutal customs of the times. At Quin in
Clare the sheriff brought to him Donogh Beg O'Brien,
who had been active in the rebellion. By order of the
deputy he was first hanged from a cair, and, while still
living, his bones were broken with the back of a heavy*
axe ; after which he was taken, half dead, and tied with
ropes to the top of the steeple of Quin Abbey, and left
there to die: a spectacle to all rebels and evil-doers.'
Perrott proceeded to Limerick, resolved to follow up the
executions, when news was brought to him that Sorley Boy
» Froude, Ilitt.of Evg. ed. 1870, x. 619.
• Fow Masters, 1584, p. 1815).
Crap. VU. TlEE FIEST PLANTATION OF MUNSTER 4G1
Mac Donnell of Antrim tad risen in revolt and was plun-
dering the country. Whereupon he proceeded north, and
reduced Mac Donnell without much difficulty.
Munster was now, as we have seen, almost depopu-
lated ; and at the end of all the fearful work described in
last chapter, the deputy, in order to prepare for the subse-
quent steps — confiscation and plantation — convened a
parliament in Dublin in 1585. This was attended by a
great number of native chiefs, who were summoned in
order to lend importance to the proceedings.' One of its
first acts was to attaint James Eustace viscount Ball in-
glass for his part in the rebellion, and of course to confiscate
his lands. In the second session (1586^ an act was passed,
though with much opposition, attainting the earl of Des-
mond and 140 of his adherents, all landed proprietors. By
this act all their vast estates — 574,628 acres ^-^were con-
fiscated to the crown ; and their owners, or those of them
that survived the rebellion, were to be sent adrift on the
world without any provision.
Proclamation was now (1586) made all through Eng-
land, inviting gentlemen to ' undertake ' the plantation of
this great and rich territory. Every possible inducement
was held forth to tempt settlers. Estates were offered at
two pence or three pence an acre ; no rent at ^ILwas to be
paid for the first five years, and only half rent for three
years after that. Every undertaker who took 12,000 acres
was to settle eighty-six English families of various trades
and occupations as tenants on his property, and so in pro-
portion for smaller estates down to 4,000 acres. No native
Irish were to be taken either as tenants or as under-tenants,
' and in no family are any mere Irish to be entertained.' *
Many of the great undertakers were absentees : Eng-
lish noblemen who never saw Ireland. Those who came
over to settle down on their estates generally took up their
' Chiefs and territories are given in detail in the Four Matters,
A.D. 1583, with valuable notes and identifications by O'Donovan.
* This is the estimate as we find it in the parliamentary papers; bat
it amounted probably to a million of our present English acres.
* The whole scheme is detailed in Carem Papers, 1575-1588. pp.
412-420.
4C2 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Purr IV.
aboda in the castles of the attainted lords and gentlemen.
Two of them are well known: Sir Walter Kaleigh got
42,000 acres in Cork and Waterford, and resided at.
Youghal, where his house is still to be seen ; and if in-
cessant activity in destroying the peasantry is to be
regarded as a merit, he well deserved the reward. Edmund
Spenser the poet received 12,000 acres in Cork, and took
up his residence in one of Desmond's strongholds, Kilcol-
man Castle, the ruin of which, near Buttevant, is still an
object of interest to visitors.
In the most important particulars, however, this great
scheme turned out a failure. No provision was made for
the natives that were to be expelled; but the English
farmers and artisans did not come over in sufficient num-
bers— 20,000 had been expected ; and the undertakers,
finding it the cheapest and easiest plan, received the native
Irish everywhere as tenants, in violation of the condi-
tions. Some English came over indeed ; but they were so
harassed and frightened by the continual attacks of the
dispossessed owners, that many of them abandoned their
settlements and returned to England. And lastly, more
than half the confiscated lands remained in possession of
the owners ; as no others could be found to take them. So
the only result of this plantation was to root out a large
proportion of the old gentry, and to enrich a few under-
takers ; the body of the population — ^that is, the remnant
that survived the slaughter — remained much the same as
before.
The deputy Sir John Perrott treated the Irish chiefs
with some consideration ; and he sought peace rather than
war. But this was not what the people of the Pale wished
for ; they hated him for his moderation, and the military
were dissatisfied that he did not seek out occasion for war.
His violent temper also turned many against him ; and
the earl of Ormond, Bingham of Connaught, and Sir
Nicholas Bagenal were his deadly enemies. His character
Was blackened in the eyes of the queen by every possible
misrepresentation ; even treasonable letters were forged in
his name and sent to her majesty. And so far was she
Chap. VH. THE FIRST PLANTATION OF MUNSTEB 40U
turned against him by these calumnies that when, in 1586,
he asked for leave to go to England to clear himself, he
was refused. Yet he continu^ to discharge his duties
with zeal and ability. *
His governor of Con naught, Sir Richard Bingham, was
a man of a very different stamp, as may be gathered from
the following sketch of some of his proceedings. He held
a sessions in Galway in January 1586, and seventy men
and women were executed. In the same year he laid siege
to Cloonoan Castle, near Corofin in Clare, held by one of
the O'Briens, who had shown symptoms of disloyalty ; and
when the garrison surrendered after a brave defence, they
were all massacred on the spot.
He next attacked the Hag's Castle situated on an island
in Lough Mask, in which two of the Burkes had fortified
themselves to escape his oppression. In this attack many
of his men perished ; but the defenders, believing that
they could not hold out, escaped by night in two boats
with their wives and children. Then Bingham razed the
castle and hanged Richard Burke, -one of the defenders
who had fallen into his hands. After this he sent seven
or eight companies of soldiers through West Connaught
in search of other insurgents ; and not succeeding in
catching those they wanted, they plundered' and ruined
the whole country, and slaughtered all they met, young and
old, not sparing even those under government protection.
Perrott was very indignant at all this savagery, and
endeavoured more than once to put a stop to it. But the
council in Dublin took Bingham's part, who consequently
had his own way. There was now another uprising of the
Burkes (1586), and Bingham, having first hanged their
hostages, proceeded against them in his usual fashion,
chasing them from their fortresses and hanging or hacking
to pieces all of them that fell into his hands.
While this was going on in Connaught, a fleet of Scots
had, at the instigation of the Burkes, landed in Innishowen
(1586), and marching south-west they arrived at Lough
Erne. Here they were met by messengers from the
Burkes, who guided them towards Connaught. Bingham,
4G4 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paut IV.
hearing of their arrival, marched against them, and there
was some skirmishing ; till at last, by a quick and well-
concerted movement, he came on them as they lay in camp
quite unprepared, at Ardnaree on the river Moy, beside
Ballina. Here he defeated them utterly ; great numbers
were drowned in attempting to cross the river, and alto-
gether 2,000 of them perished.
After thig victory the usual executions followed. Ed-
mond Burke, whose two sons were implicated, was hanged
merely because he was their father, though he was so old
and decrepit that he had to be carried to the gallows on
a bier. Another session was held in Galway in December
(1586), and many were executed, both men and women.
But perhaps the reader has had enough for the present of
Bingham's frightful career.
The great Geraldine rebellion and all the minor distur-
bances resulting from it had now been crushed, and there
was no longer even the semblance of resistance. The
miseries endured by the people in those times from the
soldiery are beyond description. Even within the Pale,
where some protection and safety might be expected, this
was the state of things, as we find it described in a State
Paper. Each man of the horse companies kept two horses
with a boy for each. Bands of these horsemen with their
horseboys, and also companies of foot-soldiers with their
attendants and idle followers, traversed the Pale, marching
leisurely hither and thither as the humour seized them,
living entirely on the people, using up their provisions,
and beggaring them with all sorts of extortion. They
even took their clothes and farming utensils ; and if they
met with any resistance, they beat and sometimes even
killed the poor people.' In the towns and villages all
through Ireland there were detachments of military, who
did whatever they pleased among the inhabitants of the
surrounding districts. And when the state of things de-
scribed above existed in the Pale, we can perhaps imagine
how it fared with the people of the rest of Ireland.
' Carem Papers, 1589-1600, p. 2C0-266.
Cjus, Vm. aUGH B0£ ODONNELL 465
CHAPTER Vnt
HUGH HOE O'DONNELL*
So long as Shane O'Neill was an object o^ dread, the
government favoured and supported his jeaemies the
O'Donnells. But no sooner had he fallen ^an there was
a change of tone ; and the O'Donnells found themselves
treated with coldness and suspicion. Among other measures
adopted by the government, sheriffs were sent to Tirconnell ;
but the chief, Sir Hugh O'Donnell — the same Hugh who
defeated Shane O'Neill in 1567 (p. 417)— refused point
blaok to admit them. This indeed could scarcely be
wondered at, seeing that the sheriffs of this period were
generally corrupt, knavish petty tyrants, who made it
their chief aim to enrich themselves by plui^dering and
outraging the people. The council in Dublin were sorely
puzzled how to act. They happened at this time to be
particularly weak in soldiers, so that they were scarcely
in a position to enforce their order ; and as Hugh O'Neill
(whose early career will be sketched in next chapter) was
married to Sir Hugh O'Donnell's daughter, there was
danger that these two great families, the O'Neills and the
O'Donnells, might combine against them. There was
another and a worse source of inquietude ; for all this time
the Armada was in course of preparation, and might any
day descend on the Irish or English coasts. ^
The deputy. Sir John Perrott, in anticipation of hostili-
ties with Spain, had already secured hostages from many
of the Irish chiefs, but no^ from the O'Donnells, whom
he feared more than all; for the toyalty of the O'Neills
' The narrative in this chapter is founded mainly on that of the Fbur
Meutert, who have copied into their Annals a great part of O'Clery's
lAfocf Bed Hugh O'DonneU (see p. 31, tHpra). PiulTp O^ollivan Beare,
in his Hittori/B Catholicee IbenUa Compendium has given many car-
oamstances omitted by the Four Masters, which I have also used. The
treacherous capture of Red Hugh by Perrott is found in the same
authorities; but this is related also by English writers, including
Perrott himselL
H H
4fi6 INSURRECTION, CONnSCATIOK, PLANTATION Part IT;
• seemed secure so long as they were let alone. In this
strait he bethought him of a treacherous plan to seize
either Sir Hugh or his son and heir, it mattered little
which.
Sir Hugh O'Donnell chief of Tircoonell had a son
Hugh, commonly known as Hugh Roe (the fied), who
was born in 1572, and who was now (1587) in his fifteenth
year. Even already at that early age, he was remarked
for his great abilities and for his aspiring and ambitious
disposition. ' The fame and renown of the above-named
youth, Hugh Roe, had spread throughout the five pro-
vinces of Ireland even before he had come to the age of
manhood, for his wisdom, sagacity, goodly growth, and
noble deeds ; and the English feared that if he should be
permitted to arrive at the age of maturity, he and the
earl of Tyrone [his brother-in-law] might combine and
conquer the whole island.' *
Perrott's plan for entrapping young Red Hugh was
skilfully concocted and well carried out. In the autumn
of 1587 he sent a merchant vessel laden with Spanish
wines to the coast of Donegal on pretence of traffic. The
captain entered Lough Swilly and anchored opposite the
castle of Rathmullan ; for he had ascertained that the boy
lived there with his foster father Mac Sweeny, a powerful
chief, the owner of the castle. "When Mac Sweeny heard
of the arrival of the ship, he sent to purchase some wine.
The messengers were told that no more was left to sell ;
but that if any gentlemen wished to come on board they
were quite welcoma to drink as much as they pleased.
The bait took. A party of the Mac Sweenys, accompanied
by Hugh, unsuspectingly went on board. The captain
had previously called in all his men ; and while the com-
pany were enjoying themselves, their arms wer^ quietly
T^noved, the hatchway door was closed down, and the
ship weighed anchor. Whjsn the people on shore observed
this they were filled with consternation, and flocked to
the beach ; but they were quite helpless, for they had no
boats ready. Neither was it of any avail when Mac Sweeny
* Four Masters, 1587, p. 1861.
Chap. VUL HUGH EOE O'DONNELL 467
niahed to the point of shore nearest the ship, and cried
out in the anguish of his heart, offering any amount of
ransom and hostages. Young Hugh O'Donnell was brought
to Dublin and safely lodged in Bermingham Tower in the
Castle, where many other nobles, both Irish and old
English, were then held in captivity.
This transaction however, so far from tending to peace,
as Perrott no doubt intended, did the very reverse ; for,
as Leland justly observes, it was 'equally impolitic and
dishonourable.' ^ It made bitter enemies of the O'Donnells,
who had been hitherto for generations on the side of the
government. In young O'Donnell himself more especially,
it engendered feelings of exasperation and irreconcilable
hatred ; and it was one of the causes of the O'Neill war,
which brought unmeasured woe and disaster to both
English and Irish. Years afterwards O'Donnell gave to
the English commissioners, as one of his reasons for enter-
ing on rebellion, his imprisonment in Dublin CaslJe.'
Three years and three months passed away : Perrott
had been recalled, and Sir William Fitzwilliam was now,
1590, lord deputy ; when O'Donnell, in concert with some
of his fellow prisoners, made an attempt to escape. Round
the castle there was a deep ditch filled with Water, across
which was a wooden bridge opposite the door of the
fortress. Early one dark winter's evening, before being
locked into their sleeping cells, and before th^ guard had
been set, they let themselves down from a window on the
bridge by a long rope, and immediately fastened the door
on the outside. They were met on the bridge by a youth
of Hugh's people with two swords, one of yHuch Hugh
took, the other was given to Art Kavanai^h, a brave
young Leinster chief. They made their way noiselessly
through the people along the dimly lighted streets, guided
by the young man, while ICavanagh brought np the rear
with sword grasped ready in case of interruption. Passing
out through one of the city gates which had not yet been
closed for the night, they crossed the country towards tho
» m^. of Ira. a. sio.
* Carem Papers, 1589-1600, p. 142. See also dbaf. xrf . 4Si>, infrm.
' B B 2
468 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabt IV
hills, avoiding the ^public road, and made their way over
the eastern face of Slieve Roe * — that slope of the Three
Rock Mountain overlooking Stillorgan. They pushed on
till far in the night ; when being at last quite worn out,
they took shelter in a thick wood, somewhere near the
present village of Roundwood, where they remained hidden
during the remainder of the night. When they resumed
their journey next morning O'Donneil was so fatigued
that he was not scble to keep up with his companions ;
for the thin shoes he wore had fallen in pieces with wet,
and his feet were torn and bleeding from sharp stones and
thorns. So, very unwillingly, his companions left him in
a wood and pursued their journey, all but one servant
who went for aid to Castlekevin, a little way off, near the
mouth of Glendalough, where lived Felim O'Toole, one of
Hugh's friends. O'Toole was rejoiced at O'Donnell's escape,
and at once took steps for his relief and protection.
Some considerable time after the fugitives had left
the castle, the guards going to lock them up in their cells
for the night missed them, and instantly raising an alarm,
rushed to the door ; but finding themselves shut in, they
shouted to the people in the houses at the other side of
the street, who with some delay removed the fastening of
the door and released them. They were not able to over-
take the fugitives, who had too much of a start, but they
traced them all the way to the hiding-place. O'Toole
now saw that his friend could no longer be concealed, for
the soldiers had surrounded the wood; and making a
virtue of necessity, he and his people arrested him and
brought him back to Dublin. The council were delighted
at his capture ; and for the better security they shackled
him and his companions in the prison with heavy iron
fetters.
Another weary year passed away. On Christmas night
1591, before supper time, Hugh and his two companions
Henry and Art O'Neill, the sons of Shane O'Neill, who
were also in the prison, cut through their iron fetters
' Slieve Boe, or the Bed Mountain, was the name of the range ex
tending from the Three Bock Mountain to Glenasmole.
Chap. VIIL HUGH ROE ODONNELL 469
with a file which had somehow been conveyed to them,
and let themselves down on the bridge by a long silken
rope, which had been sent with the file. Art O'Neill when
descending was struck on the head by a loose stone which
had become dislodged, and was greatly hurt ; but he was
able to go on. They crept through the common sewer
of the castle, and making their way across the ditch, were
met at the other side by a guide sent by the great chief
Fiach Mac Hugh O'Byrne of Glenmalure.
They glided through the dim streets as in their former
attempt at escape, the people taking no notice of them ;
and passing out at one of the city gates which had , not
been closed, they made their way across the country ; but
in this part of their course they lost Henry O'Neill in the
darkness and did not meet him again. Greatly distressed
at this, they still pressed on ; but they found it hard to
travel and suffered keenly from cold; for the snow fell
thick, and they had thrown aside their soiled outer mantles
after leaving the casWe. They crossed the hills, shaping
their way this time more to the west, up by Killakee, and
along the course of the present military road.
But Art O'Neill, who had grown corpulent in his
prison for want of exercise, and who still felt the effects
of the hurt on his head, was unable to. keep ,pace with the
others ; and Hugh and the attendants had to help him on
at intervals by walking one on each side, wjiile he rested
his arms on their shoulders. In this manner they toiled
on wearily across the snowy waste through the whole of
that Christmas night and the whole of next^ day without
food, hoping to be able to reach Glenmalure without a halt.
But they became at last so worn out wiiii^ fatigue and
hunger that, although Glenmalure was only^ a few miles
off, they had to give up and take shelter under a high rock,
while the servant ran on for help. Fiach, with as much
haste as possible, despatched a small party With a supply
of food, who found the two young men lying under the
rock to all appearance dead : — ' Unhappy and miser-
able was the condition [of the young chiefs] on their
arrival. Their bodies were covered over with white-
470 INSURUECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Part IT.
bordered shrouds of hailstones freezing around them, and
tlieir light clothes and fine-threaded shirts adhered to their
skin, and their large shoes and leather thongs to their
legs and feet : so that, covered as they were with snow, it
did not appear to the men who had arrived that they were
human beings at all, for they found no life in their mem-
bers, but just as if they were dead.' •
They raised the unhappy sufferers and tried to make
them take food and drink, but neither food nor drink
could they swallow, and while the men were tenderly
nursing them Art O'Neill died in their arms. And there
they buried him under the shadow of the rock. , Hugh,
being hardier however, fared better : after some time he
was able to swallow a little ale, and his strength began to
return. But his feet still remained frozen and dead so
that he could not stand : and when he had sufficiently re-
covered, the men carried him on their shoulders to Glen-
rnalure. Here he was placed in a secluded cottage where
he remained for a time under cure, till a young chief
named Turlogh O'Hagan, a trusty messenger from Hugh
O'Neill earl of Tyrone, came for him.
Meantime the council hearing that O'Donnell was in
Glenmalure with O'Byme, placed guards on the fords of
the Liffey to prevent him from passing northwards to his
home in Ulster. Nevertheless, as O'Neill's message was
urgent, Fiach sent O'Donnell away with O'Hagan, and a
troop of horse for a guard ; but the young chief's feet
were still so helpless that he had to be lifted on and off
his horse. They crossed the Liffey at a deep and dangerous
ford just beside Dublin, which had been left unguarded ;
passing unperceived near the green of Dublin Castle.
Here O'Byme's escort left them ; and from Dublin they
made their way northwards, attended by Felim O'Toole
and his brother. Having escorted them to a safe distance
beyond Dublin, the O'Tooles ' bade Hugh farewell, and
having given him their blessing, departed from h^m.'
There were now only two, O'Donnell himself and
» Ibw MaUert, 1592, p. 1919.
CnvT. Vni. HUGH ROE ODONNELL 471
O'Hagan, and they rode on till they reached the Boyne a
little above Drogheda, at a place where a maai kept a ferry :
here O'Donnell crossed in the boat while O'Hagan brought
the horses round by the town. They next reacEed Mellifont,
where resided a friend, Sir Garrett Moore, Jtyoung Eng-
lishman, with whom they remained for the night ; and in
the evening of the following day set off with a fresh pair
of horses. i
They arrived at Dundalk by morning, anS instead of
taking the byways, which were all guarded, they rode
through the town in open day without attracting any
notice : and at last they reached the residence of Hugh
O'Neill's half-brother, Turlogh Mac Henry O'Neill, chief
of the Fews in Armagh. Next day they crossed Slieve
Fuad and came to the city of Armagh, where they remained
in concealment for one night. The following day they
reached the house of Earl Hugh O'Neill at Dungannon,
where O'Donnell rested for four days; but secretly, for
O'Neill was still in the queen's service.
The earl sent him with a troop of horse as an escort
to Enniskillen Castle, the residence of O'Donnell's cousin
Maguire of Fermanagh, who rowed him down Lough
Erne, at the far shore of which he was met by a party of
his own people. With these he arrived a^ his father's
castle at Ballyshannon, where he was welcomed with un-
bounded joy. 7'
There is good reason to believe that the deputy Fitz-
william, who was avaricious and unprincipled, was bribed
by the earl of Tyrone to connive at the escape of O'Donnell
and the two O'Neills ; for the earl, suspecting that a
struggle was impending, was anxious to have the help of
his brother-in-law O'Donnell ; and he wished to secure
the sons of Shane O'Neill lest they might give trouble by
claiming the chieftainship. Some years afterwards the
queen plainly stated in a letter to lord deputy Borough
that O'Donnell escaped ' by practice of money bestowed
on somebody ' ; ' both Cox and Moryson say that a certain
> Ca/tem Papert, 1589-1600, p. 219 ; see also Fow Mastery lOdO,
p. 1S38, notes.
172 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabt IT.
great man was privy to their escape ; and Leland expressly
names Fitzwilliam.
An incident that occurred immediately after O'Donnell s
arrival well illustrates how the miserable people had been
oppressed and terrorised by the military. Two English
captains, Willis and Conwell, with a party of 200 soldiers
from Connaught, had taken possession of the monastery
of Donegal after expelling the monks, and also of the
castle of Ballyboyle near the town ; and from these two
robbers' nests they sent out parties day by day to plunder
the surrounding country. Young O'Donnell, without loss
of time, proceeded with a party of his people to iDonegal,
and sent an imperative message to the two captains to
march off and leave behind them all their prisoners and
plunder. So terrified were they at this mandate that they
did exactly as they were bidden, very thankful to escape
with their lives : and the monks returned to the monastery.
At Ballyshannon Hugh remained under cure for two
months. The physicians had at last to amputate his two
great toes ; and a whole year passed away before he had
fully recovered from the effects of that one terrible winter
night in the mountains.
In May this year, 1592, a general meeting of the
Kinel-Connell was convened; and Sir Hugh O'Donnell,
who was old and feeble, having resigned the chieftainship,
young Hugh Roe — now in his twentieth year — was elected
The O'Donnell, chief of his race, and was inaugurated
amid the acclamations of his people.
CHAPTER IX
HUGH O'NEILL, EARL OF TYEONE*
During the war of Shane O'Neill, his first cousin Trirlogh
Lynnagh was on the side of the government, who played
hun, as they played many another chief, against that
* In addition to the authorities quoted in this chapter, the reader
may consult The Life and Times of Aodh \_H%igh'] O'Neill, by John
Mitchel: Duffy, Dublin.
Chap. IX. HUGH O'NEILL, EARL OF TYRONE 473
formidable rebel. He was elected The O'Neill immediately
after the death of Shane, although he well knew it was
a matter of high treason. After this period he did not
receive much countenance — the authorities no (longer
needed him; and there was now coming to thef ftont
another member of the family, a powerful rival in govern-
ment favour.
It will be remembered that Matthew baron of Dun-
gannon had two sons, the elder of whom succeeded to the
title. On the death of this young man (p. 411) the
younger brother Hugh, the subject of our present sketch,
while still a mere boy, became by law baron of Dungannon ;
but his claim was for many years disregarded. There is
good reason to suspect that Matthew was not an O'Neill
at all (p. 400) ; but anyhow, this Hugh assumed, and pro-
bably believed that he was really of that great family ;
and he subsequently became the most distinguished man
that ever bore the name. He is described by his con-
temporary Moryson ^ as ' of a mean [medium] Stature but
a strong Body, able to endure Labours, Watching, and
hard Fare, being withal industrious and abtive, valiant,
affable, and apt to manage great Affairs, and of a high,
dissembling, subtile, and profound wit.'
As his father had been always on the side of the
government, Hugh was educated among the English,
and began his military life in the queen's sejrvice as com-
mander of a troop of horse. He served through the
Geraldine war, and was constantly commended for his
zeal and loyalty. The government gave him possession
of the south-east of Tyrone, restricting Turlogh Lynnagh
to the north-west. After this he kept continually quarrel-
ling with Turlogh, in which he was rather encouraged by
the government, who were not ill please^ to see that
troublesome old chief kept down. He attended the late
parliament (1585, p. 461), as baron of Dungannon ; and
before the close of the proceedings he was made earl of
Tyrone in succession to his (reputed) grandfather Conn
Bacach. But the parliament declined to grant him the
' Hist, of Irel. 1 16.
V
474 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION PabtIV,
inheritance attached to the title, saying that none but the
queen could do that, inasmuch as the land had become
the property of the crown by the attainder of Shane
O'Neill.*
Accordingly he went to England in 1587, furnished
with a warm recommendation from Perrott to Queen Eliza-
beth, whose favour and confidence he soon gained by his
courtly and insinuating manners ; and she sent him back
fully confirmed in both title and inheritance. She im-
posed however these important conditions : — that Turlogh
Lynnagh should still remain Irish chief of Tyrone — this
evidently with the intention of keeping the power erf
both balanced ; that earl Hugh himself should not claim
authority over the other Ulster chiefs ; and lastly, he was
to give up 240 acres on the Blackwater as a site for a
fort. This fort was built soon after and called Portmore ;
it commanded a ford which was the pass from Armagh
into Tyrone, O'Neill's territory ; and its site is now marked
by the village of Black watertown.
On his return he was received with great honour, both
by the government authorities and by his own country-
men. For the Irish looked up to him as the most powerful
representative of their ancient kingly race, and they be-
lieved that though an oiBcer in the English army his
heart was with their cause ; while the Irish government
regarded him as a favourite of the queen, and as their
best safeguard against the disaffected of Ulster. And
with great astuteness he made full use of his influence
with both to increase his power.
Sir John Perrott, worn out by the untiring persecu-
tion of his enemies, was recalled at his own request,
being greatly regretted by the people of Dublin, who on
the day of his departure turned out in immense crowds
to see him off. He was succeeded in 1588 by Sir William
Fitzwilliam, a man of no principle, who had been governor
several times before. He thought he had not been suffi-
ciently recompensed for his former services ; and he now
resumed the government, fully determined to enrich him-
• Carew Papert, 1576-1588, p. 407.
Chap. EC HUGH O'NEILL, EAEL OF TYRONE 475
self by every means in his power. He had not been long
ill office before he turned the whole of Ulster against the
queen's government. Soon after his arrival, in 1588,
some shipwrecked sailors belonging to the Armada were
treated kindly by O'Ruarc of Brefney and by Mac Sweeny-
na-Doe. The deputy came to hear of this, and heard
moreover what interested him a great deal more — that
the Spaniards before re-embarking had buried a tremendous
quantity of treasure somewhere near the shpre. Without
a moment's delay he hastened north, ' wishing,' as Cox
expresses it, ' to have a finger in the pie.' But he found
no treasure ; neither did he succeed in arresting O'Ruarc
and Mac Sweeny, for they had fled on his approach. En-
raged at this double disappointment, he seized without
any provocation the first two chiefs that ^ame to hand,
Sir John O'Gallagher and Sir John O'Doherty, ' who,' as
Cox says, ' were the best affected to the State of all the
Irish,' and threw them into prison in Dublin. O'Gallagher
died of a broken heart in his dungeon, and at the end of
two years O'Doherty was set free when at the point of
death, and even then only on paying a heavy bribe to the
deputy. ' This hard usage of two such Irish persons,' says
Ware, ' caused a general dissatisfaction among the gentle-
men of Ulster.' O'Ruarc escaped to Scotland, but was
given up to the queen by the Scotch and executed soon after.
But the deputy did much worse than even this, Hugh
Mac Mahon of Famey in Monaghan had occasion to go
to Dublin in 1589 to settle in the courts some matters
connected with his succession; when Fitzwilliam, before
he would even hear the case, made him pay a bribe of
600 cows. Having settled the affair, he accompanied
Mac Mahon in friendly guise to Monaghan, where ho
suddenly had the unfortunate chief put on his trial on a
trumped-up charge, kept the jury without food till they
brought in a verdict of gnUty ; and had him executed s^
his own door. Then he proceeded to divide Mac Mahon's
estate; and everyone believed that he got heavy bribes
from those to whom he gave the lands.'
' Moryson, i. 24 ; Cox, 399.
476 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pawt IV,
It would appear that the earl of Tyrone had fallen
under suspicion of having had friendly communication
also with the shipwrecked Spaniards. At any rate he
thought it best to go to England, in May 1590, to repre-
sent his own case to the queen. As he had not obtained
from the deputy the license to quit^ Ireland required by
law, he was arrested on his arrival and put in prison ;
but he was released at the end of a month and made his
peace with the queen. He now proposed various reforms
in his principality, reforms which he knew would be highly
pleasing to the queen and to the government, and he bound
himself on his honour to carry therp. out. He would
renounce the name of O'Neill ; would have Tyrone made
shire ground, and permit a jail to be built at, Dungannon.
He would cause his people to hold their lands by English
tenure, under rent, and to dress English fashion; he
promised not to admit monks or friars into his country
unless they conformed, and not to hold any correspondence
with foreign traitors — along with several other proposals
tending in the same direction.
Scarcely had this pleasant business ended when a son
of Shane an Diomais O'Neill — Hugh Gaveloch or Hugh of
the Fetters — appeared in London and openly accused the
earl of plotting with the Spaniards to make war on
the queen. Whereupon Tyrone was straightway brought
before the council board to answer this serious charge ;
but he simply denied it and was believed. How could a
man who had promised to do so much for the government
be disloyal ? After his return to Ireland one of his first
acts was to arrest this Hugh Gaveloch ; and having put
him to trial he had him hanged (1590). This brought
angry expostulations from the authorities ; but he pleaded
that he had merely, by virtue of his privilege of executing
martial law, hanged a known traitor. And he stopped
farther inquiry on this and other doubtful proceedings by
permitting Tyrone to be marked out into shire ground
with Dungannon for its county town (1591).
At this time Sir Henry Bagenal, marshal of Ireland,
had his headquarters at Newry, where his sister Mabel,
r
Chap. IX. HUGH O'NEILL, EAEL OF TYRONE 477
a beautiful girl, lived with him. O'Neill, whose wife had
died some time before, having met Miss Bagenal, they
fell in love with each other, and earnestly wished to be
married. But Bagenal was bitterly opposed to the match,
and sent the lady out of the way to the house of his sister
Lady Barnwell, who lived near Dublin. O'Neill followed
her and managed to have her conveyed to the residence
of a friend at Drumcondra, where early in^August 1591
they were married by Thomas Jones the Protestant bishop
of Meath.^ Bagenal was greatly enraged,' and made a
violent complaint to the government, which came to
nothing ; but from that day forth he was O'Neill's deadliest
«nemy. Moreover he persistently refused to give the
lady her fortune— £1,000, which had been left her by her
father. He kept it himself j and this further embittered
the quarrel.
There were still continual disputes and recriminations
between the earl and Turlogh Lynnagh ; and the govern-
ment officials, whenever they were called in to settle
matters, always took the side of the earK At last old
Turlogh, wearied with the contest, retired with an assured
income for life ; and the earl gained the great object of
his ambition : he became, in 1593, master of all Tyrone.
But now he never made the least move to carry out his
promised reforms. He knew well indeed that it was as
much as his life was worth to attempt to do so ; for his
people would have risen to a man against the introduction
of English customs.
The queen and government were greatly puzzled how
to deal with Tyrone, His proceedings excited secret
suspicions and alarms; and they now sorely repented
having placed so much power in his hands. For the pur-
pose of repressing attempts at insurrection in Ulster, he
proposed to keep up a small standing army of Irish ; to
which the government could see no objection. An army
* This poor lady's married life was short ; she never witnessed the
final fatal struggle between her husband and her brother ; for she died
Bonie time before the battle of the Yellow Ford (Carew Pamtrt, 1688-
1600. p. 151).
478 INSUERECnOir, confiscation, plantation Pakt IV.
must be trained ; and now the training and drilling went
on steadily. But he changed some of his' men almost
every day, sending home those who had been suflBciently
drilled and supplying their places with new recruits ; and
in this way he managed to make expert soldiers of nearly
all the men of Tyrone. For the purpose of roofing his
new house at Dungannon he brought home vast quantities
of lead ; and the deputy in Dublin was made uneasy by
a rumour that it was intended not for roofs but for bullets.'
He secured the friendship of the most powerful of the
Ulster chiefs, instead of seeking to subjugate them like
Shane ONeill. He gave his son in fosterage to O'Cahan ;
kept up amicable relations with the Scots of Clandeboy
and the Glens ; and his late wife was daughter of Sir
Hugh O'Donnell lord of Tirconnell, the most powerful of
all his neighbours. We have seen how he aided young
O'Donnell to escape from Dublin Castle.
Complaints now began to reach the government that
he was exercising authority over many of tfie smaller chiefs,
contrary to his agreement with the queen'; but he managed
things so adroitly that the complaints came to nothing.
He was very careful not to commit himself openly, so
thskt the authorities, though feeling suspicious and uneasy,
had no grounds for active interference. Judging how-
ever that it might not be safe to place himself directly
in the power of the government, he absented himself
from the council in Dublin, of which he was a member.
Yet he still continued in the queen's service. For
when the lord deputy marched into Connaught in 1593
to attack Maguire and O'Ruarc, who had been goaded intc
rebellion by the sheriff of Fermanagh, the earl accompanied
the expedition, though with much secret unwillingness.
Maguire, driven to bay, defended with great obstinacy
the ford of Culuan on the Erne, a little west of Belleek,
and it was only after 400 of his men had fallen that the
passage was forced. In this action Tyrone was wounded
while crossing the river at the head of his cavalry ; but
this was the last time he fought on the side of the govem-
» Ware's Annals, 1593.
Chap. EX. HUGH CNEILLk EAKL OF TYEONE 479
ment. We are told that on this occasibn Red Hugh
O'Donnell was on his way to aid the two Connaught chiefs,
bat was induced to refrain by a private message from
O'Neill, who did not wish to fight against his young friend.
In the following year, 1594, deputy Fitzwilliam, fol-
lowing up his hostilities against Maguire, took his chief
castle of Enniskillen, which was built on an island — it
was delivered up by the warders for a bribe ; in which
he left a strong garrison. And Sir Richard Bingham
governor of Connaught, who was present, having executed
all the men that fell into his hands, gathered the women,
children, and old people of the place, and flung them
into the river from the battlements of tha bridge.* But
Maguire and O'Donnell laid siege to the town, plundered
the adherents of the English in the surrounding country,
and cut off all supplies. At the end of about six weeks,
when the garrison had been reduced to great distress, the
deputy directed Sir Henry Duke and Sir Edward Herbert
with Sir Richard Bingham, to proceed towards the town with
a considerable force and attempt to throw in provisions.
When news of this reached Enniskillen, O'Donnell, who was
becoming impatient at O'Neill's persistence in holding aloof,
sent him an earnest and half-angry request for help for
Maguire. O'Neill, wishing to avoid an open breach with the
government, took no steps in the matter ; but his brother
Cormac joined Maguire with a small troop of 40Q horse
and foot, in such a manner that it was impossible to tell
whether or not it was done with the consent of the earl.
With his augmented forces Maguire intercepted the
advancing relief party, on the 7th of August, 1594, at a
ford on the river Amey, now spanned by Drumane bridge,
five miles south of Enniskillen. Here the royal (forces
were defeated with a loss of 400 men ; and the survivors
fled, abandoning all their stores, so that the place was
afterwards called Bellanabriska, the ford of the biscuits.
When the garrison of Enniskillen heard of this disaster
they capitulated ; and Maguii^ permitted ^them^^to depart
* 0*8011! van Beare, Sist. Cath. Ibem. ed. 1850, p. 160.
480 INSURRECTION, CONnSCATION, PLANTATION PabtIV.
unharmed, sending an escort with them till they reached
a place of safety.*
O'Neill had been making bitter complaints of the
treatment he received at the hands of the deputy and Sir
Henry Bagenal : the consequence of which was that the
queen, obviously anxious to conciliate him, recalled Fitz-
william and appointed Sir William Russell deputy in his
place : and she sent orders to Bagenal not to molest the
earl or his people any more : but he was not directed to
give up the £1,000 that belonged to O'Neill's wife. Newry
where he was stationed was just beside O'Neill's border,
and he used his great power as marshal in every possible
way to mortify and exasperate him. Later on, when
O'Neill in his anxiety to avoid a breach with the govern-
ment, wrote letter after letter of submission and explana-
tion to the deputy, Bagenal intercepted them ; and there
is no doubt that he was one of the chief agencies in
driving him to rebellion."
O'Neill had long held aloof from the council in Dublin:
but now to the surprise of everyone, he unexpectedly
made his appearance there. He handed to the deputy a
formal written submission, acknowledging his fault in
absenting himself from the council, but giving as a reason
that he feared treachery from Fitzwilliam. Marshal
Bagenal was instantly up and charged him openly and
bitterly with corresponding with the rebels and with other
treasonable practices, and did his best to have him arrested.
But O'Neill answered the charges by simply denying them
and by challenging him to single combat — a usual mode
of settling disputes in those days; which the marshal
declined. And he made such protestations of loyalty and
promised to do so many things for the benefit of the
government that the council permitted him to depart in
peace.'
There really was nothing that could be proved against
him, so that it would have been nothing less than treachery
• Carem Paper$, 1589-1600, p. 95 ; Four Matters, 1594.
• Carem Papers, 1589-1600, p. 151 ; see also next chapter, p. 485, ii\frtk
• Carem Papers, 1689-1600, pp. 97, 98.
Chap. IX. HUGH O'NEILL, EARL OF TYRONE 481
to arrest him. Yet the queen was very angry that he was
let oflF, and expressed her rage in unmeasured terms of
censure to the council. * When voluntarily he came up to
you, the deputy, it was overruled by you, the council, to
dismiss him, though dangerous accusations were offered
against him. This was as foul an oversight as ever was
committed in that kingdom. Our commandments to you
in private for his stay ought otherwise have guided you.'
And elsewhere she says in a letter to Russell : — ' We hold
it strange that in all this space you have not used some
underhand way to bring in the earl.' *
The friendly relations between the earl and the govern-
ment may be said to have ended with the close of this
year (1594). And here it may be asked, had he all this
time been deliberately preparing for rebellion and follow-
ing a career of deception and duplicity ? * Was he, while
professing the utmost loyalty to the queen, a crafty traitor,
as English writers surmise ? ' Dr. Richey, a writer of
great judgment and fairness, from whom I quote, answers
his own question : — ' An attentive study of his life and
letters (or rather official documents) leads to the opposite
conclusion.' There is no doubt that Dr. Richey's conclu-
sion is the true one. O'Neill was an Englishman by edu-
cation: he knew well the sort of men he had to deal
with ; he understood the character of the queen ; he was
cool and calculating and had learned all their statecraft ;
and he used their own weapons successfully against them
all. This was his real crime. His fixed intention was to
regain all the power and privileges of his predecessors;
and his struggle to accomplish this, coupled with the bitter
hostility and untiring machinations of marshafl Bagenal,
drew him gradually on till he drifted at last ifato open re-
bellion. But he did so after much doubt and^^ hesitation :
and the correspondence all through shows thai it was with
the greatest reluctance he broke with the government.
In the year 1592 the University of Dublin, now commonly
known as Trinity College, was founded by Queen Elizabeth
' See Ca/rew Pamert, pp. 101, 109. The above letter written 3lGt
October, 1594.
I I
482 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Part I\
while Adam Loftus was arclibishop. The buildings wer
erected on the site of the Augustinian monastery of All Saint
near Dublin, which had been founded in 1166 by Dermc
Mac Murrogh ; and the site was granted for the purpose t
archbishop Loftus by the corporation of Dublin.
CHAPTER X
THE REBELLION OF HUGH o'NEILL, EARL OF TYRONE
The first notable exploit of the new deputy, Sir Williai
Russell, was a well-planned attempt to capture ' The fire
brand of the mountains' — Fiach Mac Hugh O'Bymc
Guided by some of Fiach's false friends, he surprised th
castle of Ballinacor one night in January 1595 ; but th
chief and his family, having been accidentally alarmed b
the sound of a drum, escaped by the back during th
forcing of the front entrance. The deputy left a garriso
in the castle: but in the August of the following yea
O'Byrne surprised it in his turn and regained possessioi
In retaliation fot" the deputy's attack, Fiach's son-in-lav
Walter Reagh Fitzgerald, with some of the old chief
sons, swooped down by night on Crumlin near Dublii
burned the village, and carried off the leaden roof of th
church. And though the blaze was plainly seen froi
Dublin, the party got clear oflf before there was time t
intercept them. Soon after however in the same yea
(1595), Fitzgerald, while lying wounded in a cave, wa
taken by the treachery of the physician that attended hiu
«md hanged in chains.
A couple of months later, the deputy, attended by
party of military, made a journey through Wicklow, (
which the sanguinary details are given by himself. Ever
human being that fell in their way, whom they judged t
be a traitor, was killed on the spot and his ' head brough
in ' to the camp. Among others they captured the wif
of the great chief O'Byrne himself, and sentenced her t
be burned alive for treason.*
• Carew Pwperg, 1589-1600, p. 228.
CiiAP. X TnE REBELLION OF HUGH O'NEILL, 483
There were now many alarming signs and rumours of
coming disturbance ; and at the request of the deputy, a
force of 3.000 troops was sent over, under the command of
Sir John Norris president of Munster, an officer of great
ability and experience, on whom was conferred the title of
' lord general.' We have already unpleasajjtly made his
acquaintance ; for it was he who on Essex's commission
massacred the people of Rathlin (p. 443), O'Neill evi-
dently regarded this movement as the first step towards
the subjugation of the whole country, including his own
province of Ulster ; and he decided on immediate action.
He probably thought too that by taking a bold stand he
could exact better terms. Accordingly, no doubt by his
direction, his young brother Art, proceedings early in 1595
with a small party to the Blackwater, seized the recently
erected fort of Portmore, and having expelled the garrison,
he dismantled the fort, thus averting, so far as could be
done, the danger of invasion from that quarter. Im-
mediately afterwards the earl committed himself to open
rebellion by plundering the town of Cavan and the Eng-
lish settlements of the surrounding district.*
He next laid siege to Monaghan, and reduced its
English garrison to great distress ; but they managed to
send word to Dublin that they wanted provisions. On the
receipt of this message, Sir John Norris and his brother
Sir Thomas marched north in the same year (1595) with
a large force and reached the town with a store of pro-
visions without meeting any opposition from the Irish.
But on their return march to Newry they found O'Neill
with his army drawn up on the far bank of a small stream
at Clontibret, six miles from Monaghan.
Norris determined to force the passage; and leading
his men in person, dashed bravely across : but in spite of
every effort he was forced back. A secbni^ time he
crossed, and again he was driven back. At ihis juncture
a gigantic Anglo-Irish officer named Segrave spurred
across at the head of a body of cavalry, and furiously
charged the Irish horse which was commanded by O'Neill.
Carvm Ptvpert, 1589-1600, p. 109. ^
Ii2
484 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Past 1
Segrave singled out O'Neill himself, and at the first ons
they shivered their lances on their corslets. Then Segra
closing on him attempted to pull him from his horse
main force ; and both rolled to the ground in morl
struggle. The activity of O'Neill proved more than a mat
for the vast strength of his adversary : grasping his she
sword he plunged it to the hilt into Segra ve's bo(
beneath his armour, and sprang up victorious. Then t
Irish horse with a vigorous charge scattered their opp
uents, who fled in confusion. In this battle the t\
Norrises fought with great bravery, and both were severe
wounded. After the fight they made their way to Newi
leaving arms, horses, and other spoils in the hands of t
victors.^
For some time past Red Hugh O'Donnell had been i
cessantly active. He made two terrible raids on t
English settlements of Connaught. During the first,
the spring of 1595, he took revenge for Binghan
butcheries at Enniskillen in the previous year, by killii
every man above fifteen that fell into his hands who could n
speak Irish : a cruel and useless slaughter ; not quite
bad however as Bingham's, inasmuch as the women ai
children were spared.'* He demolished the castle of Sli;
and several others, to prevent them from being garrison
by the English; and he succeeded in winning to 1
standard most of the septs of North Connaught, and
uniting those of Ulster that had not already joined t
league. But now his presence was required elsewhere.
In Midsummer (1595) the deputy and lord genei
Norris marched north, determined to recover Porttnor
the expedition was nominally under the deputy, but Non
was the real commander. They proceeded to Dundal
and thence by the Moyry Pass to Newry. O'Neill ii
mediately sent word to O'Donnell, who promptly left 1
own tetritory, though sorely needed there : and the t\
' See for this battle, O'Sullivan, Hist. Cath. Tbem. ed. 1860, p. 17
Carew Po/^rt-*, 158!)-J6O0, p. 109 (Tucker's Report); axiAFowr Maate
Ifi95. 1 have attempted co reconcile the various aooouats, which t
somewhat contiictin?, both as to time and circumstance.
* O'Sullivaii, m»t. Hath. Ihern. ed. 1850, p, 168.
CUAP. X.
THE REBELLION OP HUGH O'NEILL
485
chiefs formed an entrenched camp with their united forces
beside the Blackwater, near Portmore.
The deputy and Norris proceeded with their army to
Armagh, and thence towards Portmore ; but when they
had reconnoitred the position of the Irish they did not
venture to attack. O'Neill on his part did not offer battle
in force, but contented himself with continual skirmishing.
At last the English returned to Armagh, and converting
the church into a fort, in which was left a garrison, they
leturned to Newry, and thence to Dundalk, harassed by
O'Neill the whole way.^
Yet O'Neill, knowing well the tremendous power he
had to deal with, did not wish to follow up tkis rebellion,
if by any other means he could obtain reasonable terms.
He wrote to the earl of Ormond and lo the treasurer
Wallop declaring that he wished to live in peace, provided
he and his people were allowed to profess and practise
their religion. At the same time, probably at his sug-
gestion, O'Donnell and some other chiefs wrote to the
same effect. O'Neill also sent conciliatory letters to the
deputy and to Norris, but Bagenal, who did not wish for
reconciliation, intercepted them.^ The deputy, knowing
nothing of these overtures, proclaimed O'Neill a traitor on
the 28th June, 1595, the proclamation, which came from
the queen, being worded as usual in the most insulting
terms.^ About this time the English settlements over a
great part of Leinster and Connaught were spoiled and
wasted by the Irish.
In consequence of the manifestoes to Ormond and
Wallop, however, a conference was arranged between the
Irish chiefs and two commissioners from the queen. Wallop
and chief justice Gardiner, which took place in an open
field near Dundalk. When the chiefs were questioned why
they rebelled, O'Neill gave as one of his reasons the insults
and false accusations of Bagenal ; O'Donnell brought up in
bitter complaint his treacherous seizure and imprisonment;
and the other chiefs advanced their own several gi-ievances.
' Carew Papers, 1589-1600, p. 232 ; Four Maxterf. 1595.
» Cartm Palters, 1589-1600, p. 151. • /ii^. 1589-1600, p. 111.
486 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pai:t I\
The commissioners thought many of their complaints am
demands reasonable; and agreed to refer them to tli
<][ueon ; but they demanded that the insurgents should a
once lay down their arms, repair the forts they had de
molished, and admit sheriffs into their several districts : t
place themselves in fact at the mercy of the governmeni
These preliminary conditions the chiefs rejected, and th
conference ended without result.
At the conclusion of the short truce — made for th
conference — the deputy and Norris marched to Armag
with the intention of crossing the Blackwater into Tyrone
whereupon ONeill destroyed and abandoned Portmor
and burned Dungannon, including his own house ; aft€
which he followed the same tactics as before : harassin
the enemy with constant skirmishes and avoiding ope
l);-ttle. But the negotiations wer*^ renewed; and i
October (1.^95) things had come to this pass, that O'Nei
and O'Donnell made formal submission ; and a truce ws
sigreed on till the following January.* Meantime ol
Turlogh Lynnagh died; and the earl, in accordance wit
native custom, was made The O'Neill.
From the day of N orris's arrival there had been serion
jealousy and disagreement between him and the lor
deputy. Norris, as Leland observes, 'had judgment an
equity to discern that the hostilities of the Irish had bee
provoked by several instances of wanton insolence an
oppression. He was therefore for adopting measures (
kindness and conciliation which would certainly have n
stored peace.' But deputy Russell — Leland goes on to sa
— ' declared for a vigorous prosecution of the rebels.'
The English government took Norris's view, for th
queen most earnestly wished the war ended ; and agair
in January 1596 there was a conference with a truce (
two months. O'Neill and O'Donnell demanded, amongs
other concessions, pardon for all the insurgents, and fu
liberty of conscience. As to the first, the queen refuse
to pardon the other chiefs through O'Neill and O'Donnel
insisting that each should ask pardon on his own accouiil
» Carem Papers, 1589-1600, p. 125.
Chaf.X. the rebellion OF HUGH O'NEILL 487
The petition for liberty of conscience she branded at>
downright disloyalty, being offended that it should have
been even mentioned. And thus the negotiations came to
nothing.
But all this time O'Neill, in common w^th several of
tbe other chiefs, was in secret communicatioji with Spain,
knowing well that he could not succeed in his struggle
against the great power of England without foreign aid ;
and he strongly urged the despatch of two or three
thousand Spanish troops, which he believed would be
sufficient for his purpose. Hoping for these from month
to month, he protracted the negotiations, wasted time, and
played a waiting game with consummate coolness and skill.
Afc the same time the queen and the government uncon-
sciously played into his hands by their refusal to listen to
the reasonable terms of the Irish, and bv their evasive and
often wilfully equivocating replies. Thus matters went
on without any decided or permanent agreement. Some-
times there were truces and conferences anxj negotiations,
sometimes pardons and partial settlements, and sometimes
open hostilities; so that from this time (1596) till the
battle of the Yellow Ford, it was hard to say whether the
country was in a state of peace or war. But as time rolled
on, the national league became more and more extended
under the persuasion and guidance of O'Neill, till at last
it included nearly all the chiefs of Ireland.
Soon after the break up of the resultless conference
held in January of this year (1596), Sir John Norris
headed an expedition into Connaught to reduce the con-
federates there. But he was not able to accomplish much ;
for he was followed by O'Donnell the whole time; and
having run short of provisions, he had at last to return
to Athlone. He left garrisons however in several castles
between Gal way and Athlone.^ About this time three
Spanish vessels arrived on the Donegal coast, bringing a
supply of military stores, which were delivered up to
ODonnell with encouraging letters from the king of
Spain.
» i'V>«r JI/arfCT-», 1596, p. 2001. j-
488 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paht IV.
Towards the close of the year (1596) peace was agreed
on, at the urgent desire of the queen, each chief receiving
pardon on his own account, and not through O'Neill.
Yet O'Neill, though apparently yielding here, gained his
point, for it was by his direction they surrendered, and the
terms, as being dictated by him, were all identical.' But
tliis peace was not of long duration ; for the deputy soon
after made an attack on the Leinster confederate, Fiach
Mac Hugh O'Byme. This was fiercely resented by O'Neill,
who in retaliation suddenly attacked Armagh, expelled
the garrison after surrender, and dismantled the fortress.'
And he sent an expedition southwards which ravaged the
English settlements as far as the Boyne.^ Yet even after
this, the English authorities, conscious of weakness, sent
another commission to treat with him, but without any
decisive results in pacifying the country.
The queen, who seems to have had secret sources of
information, rightly suspected that O'Neill was in corre-
spondence with some foreign power; and as nearly all
the Irish chiefs were now in revolt, she became -greatly
alarmed. She would gladly have had peace, but could
not bring herself to yield to the demands of the Irish ;
yet she was unable to fully assert her authority, for the
army in Ireland was in a state of deplorable inefficiency.
She was most anxious that there should be no unnecessary
irritation of the Irish ; and she was accordingly greatly
exasperated at the continual reports that reached her of
Bingham's atrocious tyranny in Connaught. She ordered
inquiry, and was made aware that it was he who had
driven the chiefs of his part of the country into re-
bellion. He was recalled in January 1597, and the
Queen was so indignant that when he appeared in London
to justify himself she caused him to be cast into prison.
She appointed in his place, as governor of Connaught,
Sir Conyers Clifford, a just and humane man ; and as the
Four Masters say, ' there came not of the English into
Ireland in latter times a better man than he.'
' Carew Papers, 1589-1600, pp. 185, 186, 204.
» Ihid. p. 186. • Ware's AutmU, 1596.
Chap. X. THE REBELLION OF HUGH O'NEILL 480
In the month of May this year (1597) Russell led an
expedition through Wicklow, when the great old chief
Fiach Mac Hugh O'Byme met hia fate. The soldiers,
led to his retreat by a treacherous relati^^, captured him
and killed him on the spot — ' to the great comfort and
joy of all that province,' says Russell in his diary. And
they brought his head to Dublin, where it was spiked on
the castle.' Immediately after this last exploit Sir William
Russell, having been continually thwarted^ as he states,
by the queen following other people's advice, asked for
and obtained his recall ; and Thomas Lord Borough was
appointed in his place. One of the first acts of this new
deputy was to deprive Sir John Norria of his high com-
mand as lord general, and send him back to his presidency
of Munster; and this humiliation, 'with the baffles and
abuses put upon him by Tyrone,' so preyed on him that
he pined away and died.^
Borough found all Ulster, except seven castled towns,
nearly all Connaught, and a great part of Munster, in the
hands of the rebels. And having made up his mind to bring
the entire military resources of the country in one gi'and
effort against the northern confederates, he organised
movements from three different points. He himself was
to march from Dublin towards the Blackwater against
O'Neill ; he directed Sir Conyers Clifford to move from
Galway towards Ballyshannon against O'Donnell ; and
young Barn e well son of Lord Trimblestone was ordered
to proceed from Mullingar to join the main body ; the
intention being that all three should effect a junction
somewhere near Ballyshannon. O'Neill and O'Donnell
hearing of these preparations cast about them to prevent
the intended junction, and arranged that each of the three
expeditions should be intercepted.
In July (1597) the deputy mustered the forces of
Leinster at Drogheda, whence he marched towards Port-
more attended by the earl of Kildare and Lord Trimble-
stone. He was attacked by O'Neill in a dangerous pass
* rarew Papers, ] 589-1600, p. 259.
• Ware, 1597 ; Moryson, i. 48.
490 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paqt IV.
near Armagh which the Irish had plashed, but forced his
way through in spite of all opposition ; and taking posses^
sion of the ruined fort of Portmore, encamped at the
Tyrone (or west) side of the river. He was however
unable to advance farther, and was greatly harassed and
lost many of his men in constant skirmishing. At last
O'Neill unexpectedly attacked him in force at the hill of
Drum fl ugh near the camp, where Battleford Bridge now
stands, and defeated him with heavy loss. The deputy
Borough, fighting gallantly in front, was wounded ; and
Kildare who then took command was struck down severely
wounded, while his two foster brothers were killed by his
side defending him. Among the slain were Sir Francis
Vaughan the deputy's brother-in-law, sergeant-major
Turner, and several other ofiicers ; and Kildare died almost
immediately after at Drogheda. Borough himself was
carried in a litter from the battlefield, and died soon after,
as will be told farther on.^
Notwithstanding this serious repulse, the deputy ac-
complished one important object of the expedition —
regaining possession of Portmore. He built a new fort
in place of the old one ; and leaving a garrison of 300
men there in charge of a brave and capable officer, captain
Williams, he returned to Dublin.
Sir Con vers Clifibrd, accompanied by many of the
nobles and chiefs of Connauglit, mustered in great force
at Boyle, whence he marched north to the river Erne.
O'Donnell had posted guards at all the fords, but Clifford
forced his way across at Culuan in spite of the fierce
opposition of the Tirconnellians, though many of his
officers and men were killed — among others Murrogh
baron of Inchiquin, who was much lamented by both Irish
and English. Having received some cannon from Galway
by sea, he laid siege to O'Donnell's castle at Ballyshannon,
which was valiantly defended by the garrison con'si sting
of eighty men, commanded by a Scotchman named Craw-
ford. For three days the heavy cannon battered without
• Fmir Masters, 1597, p. 204 ; Carem Papers, 1598-1600, p. 2G9 ;
W are's Aaiials 1597
CjiAT.X. THE REBELLION OF HUGH O'NEILL 491
cessation ; and a determined attempt to sap the walls was
luade by a party in armour under cover of a testudo formed
by their shields. But the defenders poured down such
a tremendous shower of fire, logs of timber, and great
blocks of stone, that the attacking party were forced to
retire after great loss.
O'Donnell had but a small force on the arrival of the
president; but his men increased daily, and he now
harassed the English by incessant flying attacks day and
night. He stopped the supply of fodder for the horses,
so that the president was reduced to great distress, and
instead of besieging was now himself besieged. Having
held an anxious council of war, which la^ed all night, it
was agreed to recross the river and retreat. But as it was
impossible now to reach the ford of Culuan three miles
higher up, they had to take the deep and dangerous
ford nearest to them, the old ford of Gasan-na-gvrra, the
' Path of the Champions,' just above the waterfall of
Assaroe beside Ballyshannon. Abandoning all their ord-
nance, carriages, horses, and stores, they began to ford
the river in silence ; but before all had time to cross, the
rear was set upon by the garrison ; and what with the
frantic haste and the depth and strength of the current,
great numbers were swept down over the fdills and drowned,
aud many were killed by the garrison. CXDbnnell, hearing
in his tent the noise of battle, started up, and crossing
the river with his men, pursued the retreating army for
four or five miles ; but a heavy rain came on which wetted
their ammunition, for in their haste they had left their
outer garments behind ; so they gave up the pursuit and
returned. And thus governor Clifford accomplished
nothing by this expedition.*
To meet the third detachment from Mullingar, Tyrone
despatched a small force of 400 men under captain Tyrrell
chief of FertuUagh in Westmeath, a guerilla chief of con-
summate skill and bravery, who knew every hill, valley,
bog, and pass from Dublin to the Shannon. Tyrrell
» Carem Papers, 1589-1600, p. 2G9; Four Matters, 1597, pp. 2026-
2035.
i02 INSURRECTION. CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paiit IV.
marched south, and making his way by Offaly reached
hia own territory of Fertullagh, where he rested his men,
till word was brought to Mullingar of his approach.
Young Barnewell, despising the small body sent to oppose
him, marched boldly with his 1,000 to destroy the rebels;
whereupon Tyrrell fell back till he reached Tyrrell's Pass,
a perilous place for an army to be caught in, with deep
bogs on both sides, which Tyrrell had made more dan-
gerous by obstructing the passage with felled trees. In
a copse beside the way by which the English were to pass
Tyrrell concealed half his little army under a brave officer,
Owney O'Conor, one of the dispossessed chiefs of Oflfaly.
When Barnewell came in sight of the small party in
the pass he made straight for them, while Tyrrell slowly
retreated. "When the last of the pursuing party had filed
past the ambuscade, O'Conor started up from his lair, and
the bagpipes struck up ' The Tyrrell's March,' which was
to be the signal to the other party. Then Tyrrell turned
suddenly round, and the English were attacked front and
rear. Gallantly fighting under such tremendous disadvan-
tages, they all fell — every man — except the leader and
one other who hid himself in a quagmire hard by, and
who afterwards carried the fatal news back to Mullingar,
Young Barnewell was captured w:ithout hurt, and sent a
prisoner to the earl of Tyrone. It is stated that O'Conor's
hand became so swollen with fighting that day, that it
had to be released by cutting the hilt of the sword with
a file.»
CHAPTER XI
THE BATTLE OF THE YELLOW FORD *
PoRTMORE was now (1597) occupied by captain Williams
and his garrison of three hundred ; and the minor events
• Mac Geoghegan's Hist, of Irel. 505.
» We have very detailed contemporary accounts of this battle, all
English, which may be seen in the KilJt. Arch. Jowm. for 1856-1857,
j». 256 ; and in Carew Paper », 1689-1600, p. 280; see also Gilbert, Fao-
situilet, Ft. iv. zliii, plate xxiv.
^
CiiAP. XI. THE BATTLE OF THE YELLOW FORD 49.1
of which it was the centre led ultimately to the battle of
the Yellow Ford. No sooner had lord deputy Borough
turned southward (p. 490) than O'Neill laid eiege to it ;
and watching it night and day, tried every stratagem ; but
the vigilance and determination of Williams completely
baffled him. At last he attempted a storm by means of
scaling ladders : but the ladders turned out too shopt, and
the storming party were met by such a fierce onslaught
that they had to retire discomfited, leaving thirty-four of
their men dead in the fosse. After this O'Neill tried no more
active operations, but sat down, determined to starve the
garrison into submission. But lord deputy Borough, when
he heard how matters stood, marched north, and after
some sharp fighting succeeded in throwing in supplies.
Returning thence he had to be borne on a litter, either on
account of sickness or of wounds, till he reached Newry,
where he died.'
Near the end of the year (1697) the earl of Ormond
was appointed lord lieutenant, with command of the army.
He had instructions to bring about a peace if possible,
and on the 22nd of December he held a conference at Dun«-
dalk with O'Neill, who handed in a formal submission, with
a petition in which the very first thing asked for was
liberty of conscience. A truce was agreed on till May
(1598), and a formal pardon was sent to him, but he never
made use of it.* He appears to have again intentionally
delayed the negotiations, using them as a means of gain-
ing time ; for he still hoped for help from Spain. But on
expiry of the truce he suddenly broke ofi" negotiation, and
appeared again in person before Portmore, ' swearing by
his barbarous hand that he will not depart till he carry
the fort.' Having already had sufiicient experience of
captain Williams, he ventured no more assaults, but
turned the siege into a blockade. When this had con-
tinued for some time, Williams and his men began to
suffer sorely; and they would bave been driven to sur-
* Moryson, i. 61. The accounts of his death are somewhat conflicting.
« Carem Pa/pen^ 1689-1600, p. 274; Ware's Annais, 1598; Fair
Matters, 1597, p. 2045.
494 INSUEKECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pact IV.
render by mere staxvatiori but for the good fortune of
having, by some stratagem, seized and brought into the fort
a number of O'Neill's horses, on which they now chiefly
subsisted. Even with this supply they were so pressed by
hunger that they ate every weed and every blade of grass
they could pick up in the enclosure : but still the brave
captain resolutely held out.
When tidings of these events reached Dublin, the
council sat in long and anxious deliberation. They decided
at last, in the absence of marshal Bagenal, to send directions
to captain Williams to surrender on the best terms he
could obtain. But the marshal, through whom the letters
were sent, held them back, and coming direct from Newry
to Dublin, persuaded the council, though with some diffi-
culty, to entrust him with the perilous task of relieving the
fort. It was decided to divide the army. Lord Ormond
himself was to lead one half against the Leinster insur-
gents, and the marshal the other half — ' the most choice
companies of foot and horse troops of the English army '
— against O'Neill.* A prudent and skilful strategist
would have directed the whole available government forces
— about 10,000 men — against O'Neill: the queen would
certainly have ordered it had she been consulted ; but
Bagenal was filled with a rash confidence that with half
the army he could rout the Ulstermen.
As for Ormond, he attempted to relieve Port-Leix,
which was besieged by the Irish ; but he met with a severe
repulse from captain Tyrrell, Redmond Burke, and Owney
O'Moore, and escaped with difficulty. Then he shut him-
self up safely in Kilkenny, and did nothing more against the
Leinster insurgents.
Marshal Bagenal arrived at Armagh with an army of
4,000 foot and 350 horse. The five miles highway between
the city and Portmore was a narrow strip of uneven ground,
with bogs and woods at both sides ; and right in the way,
at Bellanaboy or the Yellow Ford, on the little river
Callan, two miles north of Armagh, O'Neill had marshalled
his forces, determined to dispute the passage. His army
> Moryson, L 58.
Chap. XI. TEE BATTLE OF THE YELLOWiFOED 405
was perhaps a little more numerous than that of his ad-
versary, well trained and disciplined, armed and equipped
after the English fashion, though not so well as Bagenals
army — they had no armour for instance, while many of
the English had ; and he had the advantage of an excel-
lent position selected by himself. He had with him Hugh
Roe O'Donnell, Maguire, and Mac Donnell of the Glens,
all leaders of ability and experience. At intervals along
the way he had dug deep holes and trenches, and had
otherwise encumbered the line of march with felled trees
and brushwood ; and right in front of his main body ex-
tended a trench a mile long, five feet deep, and four feet
across with a thick hedge of thorns on top. Over these
tremendous obstacles, in face of the whole strength of the
Irish army, Bagenal must force his way^if he is ever to
reach the starving little band cooped up in Portmore.
But Bagenal was not a man easily daunted ; and on
the morning of the 14th August 1598 he began his march
with music and drum. The army advanced in six regi-
ments, forming three divisions. The first division — two
regiments — was commanded by colonel Percy, the marshal
himself, as commander-in-chief, riding in the second regi-
ment. The second division, consisting of the third and
fourth regiments, was commanded by colonel Cosby and
Sir Thomas Wingfield, and the third division by captains
Cbtaeys and Billings, The horse formed two divisions, one
on each wing, under Sir Calisthenes Brooke, with captains
Montague and Fleming. The regiments marched one
behind another at intervals of 600 or 700 paces.
On the night before, O'Neill had sent forward 500 light-
armed kern, who concealed themselves till morning in the
woods and thickets along the way, and the English had
not advanced far when these opened fire from both sides,
which they kept up during the whole march past. Through
all obstacles — fire, bog, and pitfalls^ — the army struggled
and fought resolutely, till the first regiment reached the
great trench. A determined rush across, a brief and fierce
hand to hand struggle, and in spite of all opposition they
got to the other side. Instantly reforming, they pushed
49G INSUERECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION PAr.T IV.
on, but bad got only a little way when they wer§ charged
by a solid body of Irish and utterly overwhelmed. It
now appeared that a fatal mistake in tactics had been
made by Bagenal. The several regiments were too far
asunder, and the men of the vanguard were almost all
killed before the second regiment could come up. When
at last this second line appeared, O'Neill with a body of
horse, knowing that Bagenal was at their head, spurred
forward to seek him out and settle wrong and quarrel
hand to hand. But they were not fated to meet. The
brave marshal, fatigued with fighting, lifted his visor for a
moment to look about him and take breath ; but hardly
had he done so when a musket ball pierced his brain and
he fell lifeless.
Even after this catastrophe the second regiment passed
the trench, and were augmented by those of the first who
survived. These soon found themselves hard pressed ;
which Cosby becoming aware of, pushed on with his
third regiment to their relief; but they were cut to pieces
before he had come up. A cannon had got bogged in
Cosby's rear, straight in the line of march, and l5ie oxen
that drew it having been killed, the men of the fourth
regiment made frantic efforts to free it, fighting for their
lives all the time, for the Irish were swarming all round
them. Meantime during this delay Cosby's regiment was
attacked and destroyed, and he himself was taken prisoner.
While all this was taking place in the English front,
there was hard fighting in the rear. For O'Neill, who
with a small party of horse had kept his place near the
trench fighting and issuing orders, had, at the beginning
of the battle, sent towards the enemy's rear O'Donnelli
Maguire, and Mac Donnell of the Glens, who passing by
the flank of the second division, hotly engaged as they
were, fell on the last two regiments, which after a pro-
longed struggle to get forward, ' being hard sett to, retyred
foully [in disorder] to Armagh.'
The fourth regiment, at last leaving their cannon,
made a dash for the trench ; but scarcely had they started
when a waggon of gunpowder exploded in their midst,
Chap. XI. THE BATTLE OF THE YELLOW FOED 497
by which they were * disrancked and rowted ' and great
numbers were killed, ' wherewith the traitors were en-
couraged and our men dismayed.' O'Neill, observing
the confusion, seized the moment for a furious charge.
The main body of the English had been already wavering
after the explosion, and now there was a general rout of
both middle and rear. Fighting on the side of the
English was an Irish chief, Mailmora or Myles O'Reilly,
who was known as Mailmora the Handsome, and who
called himself the queen's O'Reilly. He made two or
three desperate attempts to rally the flying squadrons, but
all in vain ; and at last he himself fell slain among the
others.
The multitude fled back towards Armagh, protected
by the cavalry under captain Montague, an able and
intrepid officer, for Sir Calisthenes Brooke had been
wounded ; and the Irish pursued them — as the old Irish
chronicler expresses it — *by pairs, threes, scores, and
thirties.' Two thousand of the English were killed,'
together with their general and nearly all the officers;
and the victors became masters of the artillery, ammuni-
tion, and stores of the royal army. On the Irish side the
loss is variously estimated from 200 to 700. This was
the greatest overthrow th^ English ever suffered since
they had first set foot in Ireland.
The fugitives to the number of 1,500 shut themselves
up in Armagh, where they were closely invested by the
Irish. But Montague, with a body of horse, most cou-
rageously forced his way out and brought the^evil tidings
to Dublin. In a few days the garrisons of Armagh and
Portmore capitulated — ^the valiant captain Williams yield-
ing only after a most pressing message from Armagh —
and were permitted to retire to Dundal^, leaving colours,
drums, and ammunition behind.
Captain Tyrrell, Owney O'Moore, and Redmond Burke
• T\yo thousand according to captain Montage, who wrote an ao-
cotint of the battle two days afterwards (Mlk. Arch. Joum. 1856,
p. 272) ; but other English accounts give the number as 1,600 ; the
Four Masters say 2,600. I adopt Montague's estimate. .
K K
498 INSUREECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paht IV.
now proceeded to Munster, by direction of O'Neill, plun-
dering the English territories as they went along. On
their arrival with the news of the great northern victory
they were joined by the southern chiefs ; and the Munster
rebellion broke out like lightning. The confederates,
among whom were the sons of Thomas Roe brother of
the late (i.e. the rebel) earl of Desmond, attacked the
settlements to regain the lands that had been taken from
them a dozen years before. They expelled or slew the
settlers ; and before long they had recovered all Desmond's
castles except those of Castlemaine, Mallow, and Askeaton.
The lord lieutenant and Sir Thomas Norris president
of Munster were, so far, quite nnable to cope with the
southern rebellion. They met at Ealmallock but did not
venture to attack the rebels ; and at last they retired,
Ormond to Dublin and Norris to Mallow, leaving Munster
to its fate.
O'Neill, who now exercised almost as much authority
as if he were king of Ireland, conferred the title of earl
of Desmond on James Fitzgerald (or FitzThomas), the son
of Thomas Roe. This new earl was called in derision by
his enemies the Sugan earl (sugan, a straw rope); and
by this name he is now best known in history. The true
heir, the son of the rebel earl, was still in London (p. 448).
O'Neill had hitherto acted chiefly on^ the defensive.
It may be asked why he did not now assume the offensive 5
Why did he not march on Dublin? There was not a
soldier left there ; the lords justices were quaking with
terror ; and 500 men would have taken it without resist-
ance. The whole country seemed ready for the decisive
blow. Ulster and Leinster were nearly all in the hands
of the rebels ; and Munster and Connaught were rising
or were already in successful revolt. In this state oi
affairs had O'Neill seized Dublin the English sovereignty
would probably have been wiped out for the time. But
then we must remember that he had no standing army —
the great defect of the Irish military system. His men
joined, as men always joined in Ireland, for a single
campaign or expedition, and expected to be disbanded
Chap, XI. THE BATTLE OF THE YELLOW FORD 499
when it was over. It was now harvest time, when the
crops had to be gathered in ; and he found it impossible
to keep his forces well together. Even O'Donnell and his
men were forced to return home immediately after the battle
for want of provisions. Then again the Irish forces were
not concentrated ; they were scattered all over the country
without unity of action. He had hardly any stores, no
commissariat, no battering train, no means of carrying on
and sustaining campaign or siege. It was quite impossible
that he could succeed by native resources without help from
outside. No one was better aware of all this than O'Neill
himself; and he does not deserve the censure passed on him
by some for not more decisively following up his victory at
the Yellow Ford. I
CHAPTER XII
THE EAKL OF ESSEX !
,(;
The queen was exasperated beyond measure when news
reached her of the battle of the Yellow Ford; and she
wrote to the Irish council, bitterly censuring^ them, and
expressing her belief that this disaster and many others
were owing to their incapacity and mismanagement.
Matters had now become very serious in Ireland ; and at
this grave juncture the queen, in March 1599, appointed
as lord lieutenant her favourite, Robert Devereux earl
of Essex, the son of that ill-fated nobleman whom we
have already mentioned in connection with the plantation
of Ulster. He had distinguished himself as a soldier
abroad; but something more than a mere soldier was
now needed to govern Ireland. He was provided with
a fine army of 20,000 men, and the queen invested him
with almost as much power as if she had made him king
of Ireland. He got distinct instructions to direct all hia
strength against the earl of Tyrone and the other rebels
of Ulster, and to plant garrisons at Lough Foyle and
Ballyshaimon.* This latter direction he quite neglected :
• Moiyson'B Hist, of Irel. i. 91.
SK 2
500 INSUREECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabt IV
we shall see how he attended to the rebels of the
north;
Soon after his arrival in Dublin he foolishly scattered
a^good part of his army by sending detachments to various
stations through the country. Then probably deeming
it not yet quite safe to attempt the reduction of O'Neill,
he deliberately disobeyed the queen's instructions by
setting out for the south on the 2l8t May with 7,000 men,
chiefly with the object of chastising the Geraldines.
Through the whole of this disastrous journey, which
occupied about six weeks, the insurgents constantly hung
round the army and never gave him an hour's rest, so
that he had to fight every inch of his way ; and each
successive skirmish resulted in a diminution of his num-
bers.* In one of these encounters Owney O'Moore chief
of Leix, son of Rory Oge (p. 438), killed 500 of his men
in a defile near Maryborough, which was afterwards called
the Pass of the Plumes, from the number of English
helmet plumes that remained strewn about after the
battle. He pushed on to Caher in Tipperary, where
he took the strong castle, after a siege of ten days, from
Thomas Butler, one of the confederates in alliance with
O'Neill : the only successful exploit of the whole expedi-
tion. It may be remarked here that this castle was
recovered by the rebels in May of the following year, and
recaptured by the government three months later.
During the time Essex was in Caher, Sir Thomas
Norris president of Munster, while waiting for him at
Kilmallock, employed himself in scouring the district all
round for the queen's enemies. In one of his excursions
he accidentally encountered Thomas Burke of Castleconnell,
at the head of a small party at Kilteely, and was mortally
wounded in the skirmish that followed. He died in a
fortnight after at Mallow.'
From Caher the earl marched to Limerick ; thence to
Askeaton, where he strengthened and provisioned the
garrison by throwing in supplies; and next by Adare
' The whole joamey is described in Carun Papers, 1689-1600, p. 301 ;
and in Fowr Mtuier$, 1699, p. 2111. * Fow Masters, 1699, p. 2116.
Chap. XIL THE EARL OF ESSEX .. 601
and Bruff to Kilmallock. While passing hear Adare the
Sugan earl and the other Geraldines suddenly set upon
him at Finniterstown and killed many of his men, in-
cluding one of his best officers, Sir Henry Notris, the
third of those distinguished brothers who perished in
these wars.
Leaving Kilmallock he marched to Ai^skeagh, and
on by the northern skirt of the Ballyhoura Mountains to
Fermoy; thence through Lismore and Waterford, and
next northwards towards Dublin. The Geraldines kept
still hanging on his rear, and harassed him as far as the
Decies in Waterford, where they left him and returned
to their own country. But he had next to deal with the
Leinster clans — the O'Bymes, the O'Tooles, and the
O'Moores — who attacked him near Arklow and inflicted
great loss.
Towards the end of June (1599) ' his lordship,' says
Moryson, ' brought back his forces into [the safe part of]
Leinster, the soldiers being weary, sick, and incredibly
diminished in numbers.' And the earl himself returned to
Dublin * without having achieved in his progress any exploit
worth boasting of except only the taking of Caher Castle.' '
In the month of June, while the earl was still in
Munater, Sir Henry Harrington, marching with 600 men
from Wicklow against the insurgents of thppe parts, was
intercepted at Ranelagh near Baltinglass and defeated
with heavy loss by Felim O'Byme the son of Feagh. In
this action the English soldiers, in spite of the exertions
of Harrington and some of his officers, threw down their
arms and fled in a panic without striking a Wow. Essex,
on his arrival in Dublin, was so enraged at this disgraceful
flight, that he had the officers who were to blame cashiered,
and caused every tenth man of the soldiers to be executed.*
All through this great revolt O'Conor of Sligo had re-
mained in the queen's service. He had fought against
O'Neill at the Yellow Ford, and had accompanied Essex
during a part of his march through Munster ; after which he
• Four Masters, 1599, p. 2121.
« Carew Pa^ert, 1689-1600, p. 312.
602 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Past IV.
retired to his strong castle of CoUooney in Sligo, the only
stronghold now in his possession. As soon as O'Donnell
received intelligence of this, he suddenly marched from
his headquarters at Ballymote, seven miles oflf, and sur-
rounded the castle, determined to reduce it by blockade ;
for it was too strong to be carried by assault. O'Conor
after some time contrived to send news of his distressed
condition to Dublin ; whereupon Essex directed Sir Conyers
Clifford governor of Connaught to proceed by land to
relieve the castle, and to send also an expedition by sea
from Galway with materials for rebuilding the castle of
Sligo which had been destroyed four years before by
O'Donnell (p. 484). The ships were under the command
of Theobald Burke, commonly called Theobald-na-Long (of
the ships) son of the celebrated Grace O'Malley. Clifford
himself proceeded with an army of 2,100 from Roscommon
to Boyle, where he halted to make preparations for his final
march.
O'Donnell having been apprised of these movements
prepared to counteract them. He first sent a small party
to guard the shore, who on Burke's arrival prevented him
from landing. Then he made preparations to intercept
Clifford, though against the advice of several of his officers,
as he had not near so many men as the English.
In order to go from Boyle into Sligo, Clifford had to
cross the low range of the Curlieu hills by a difficult way
called Ballaghboy or the Yellow Pass. O'Donnell with a
small detachment of picked men encamped at the Sligo
end of this pass, leaving a sufficient force to guard the be-
leaguered castle under the command of his cousin Niall
Garve O'Donnell, of whom more will be heard hereafter :
while he sent Brian Oge O'Ruarc to take a position a
short way off at the eastern end of the range, lest Clifford
might make that his way. Here O'Donnell waited for two
months, keeping scouts on the hill tops every day to look
out for the approach of the enemy : and meantime he
plashed the pass, i.e. made it more difficult by felled trees
and other obstructions. At last in the afternoon of the
loth of August a messenger ran down full speed to the
Ciup.XIL THE EAEL OF ESSEX 603
Gamp with news that the English were in motion.
O'Donnell and his men had spent that morning as well as
the evening before in devotions, for it was Lady-day, a
solemn festival in the Catholic Church ; and the ceremonies
were scarce ended when the bugles rang out the call to
arms. He divided his little army into two parts. One
consisting of about 400 young active men, he sent forward
with orders to attack the English at the beginning of the
ascent, but to retire after the first onset, and harass them
as best they could afterwards. He himself at the head of
his veterans followed after at a slow steady pace.
The English advanced in three divisions. Near the
entrance to the pass, the van commanded by Sir Alexander
Ratcliff was encountered by the 400 Irish sharp-shooters,
who having discharged their weapons from behind a barri-
cade, retired, but continued to assail the advancing column
from a distance, never waiting for close quarters. The
way now led through bogs and brushwood ; and the Eng-
lish having cleared the barricade, advanced twelve abreast
— there was no room for more — till they met O'Donnell
and his veterans : and then the real battle began. Rat-
cliff, fighting at the head of his men, was first disabled
and soon after shot dead ; and the van after some sharp
fighting at length turned and fled right in the faces of the
* battle ' or centre division. In a few moments all was
confusion; and the whole army rushed back down the
hill-slope in spite of the utmost efforts of their leaders.
The brave and high-minded Sir Cony ers Clifford, disdaining
to fly, endeavoured in vain to rally his men ; when two of
his officers perceiving that he was in imminent danger, drew
him back some distance by main force. But he burst
from them in a fury ; and facing the advancing Irish, fought
single handed, till overpowered by numbers, he fell dead
in the middle of the pass. 'j
O'Ruarc, hearing from his encampment the sounds of
battle in the distance, hastened forward with his Brefney
men, and arrived just in time to complete the rout. The
fugitives were saved from utter destruction; by Sir Griffin
Markham, who at the head of a small body of horse,
504 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Past IV.
charged the pursuers with great apirit over diflBcult ground
of rock and bog, and thus made time for escape.'
Sir Conyers Cliflford was greatly regretted by the Irish,
especially the people of Connaught, to whom he was a just
and merciful ruler — a complete contrast to Bingham ; and
be was honourably buried by the victors in the monastery
of the Holy Trinity in Lough Key.
After the battle O'Conor surrendered his castle and
joined the northern confederates ; and O'Donnell with
characteristic nobleness of mind, restored his lands and
gave him cattle to stock them. Theobald-na-Long, who
was O'Conor's brother-in-law, also submitted and entered
into friendship with O'Donnell, after which the fleet re-
turned home.
Essex's fine army of 20,000 had melted away in a few
months (of 1599). At his own urgent request he now got
2.000 more from the queen, who however was greatly ex-
asperated, and wrote him a bitter letter peremptorily com-
manding him to proceed against O'Neill. On the receipt
of this he set out for the north in August 1599, with an
inadequate little army of 2,500 foot and 300 horse. On a
high bank overlooking the little river Lagan between the
counties of Louth and Monaghan, he found O'Neill's army
in a camp so strongly fortified that he did not attempt an
attack. O'Neill sent him a courteous message asking for
a conference, which he at first refused, but next day
granted.
At the appointed hour, on a day early in September,
the two leaders rode down from the heights on either
side, wholly unattended, to the ford of Ballaclinch, now
spanned by Anaghclart bridge near the village of Louth.
O'Neill saluted the earl with great respect, and spurring
his horse into the stream to be near enough to hold con-
' The Four Masters give a fall account of this battle and the circum-
Btancea that led to it, A.D. 1599, pp. 2121-2133 ; see also 'A Brief Relar
tion of the Defeat in the Curlieus,' by John Dymmok, published by the
Irish Arch, 8oc. in Tracts relating to Ireland, 1842. p. 44 ; and Sir John
Harrington's account of the battle in his Nvgts Antiqvce, i. 264. A good
description of site and battle will be found in the Rev. Dr. G'Rourke's
Hist, of Sliyo, ii. 294-306.
CiTAT-. Xn. THE EARL OF ESSEX
605
verse, remained there up to his saddle girthaidaring the
conference, which lasted more than half an hour. He
declared himself ready to submit to her majesty on the fol-
lowing conditions : — That the Irish should have complete
liberty to practise their religion : that O'Donnell, the earl
of Desmond (i.e. the Sugan earl) and himself should
enjoy their patrimonial lands: that the judges and the
principal officers of state should be natives of Ireland :
and that half the army of Ireland should be Irishmen.*
It is believed that the earl was quite won over by the
open and kindly address and chivalrous bearing of the
Irish chief, who with his usual ability laid his country's
claims in the most favourable light before him.
After this there was another conference, in which
O'Neill and Essex were attended by siz of the principal
men on each side. O'Neill, standing all the time on horse-
back in the water with his men, saluted the earl's com-
panions respectfully and spoke a good deal, with head
uncovered all the time. In the end a truce was agreed on
till the Ist of May, which might be broken at any time by
either side on giving a fortnight's notice.*
This was Essex's last act of any moment in Ireland.
On his return to Dublin he found awaiting him another
angry letter from the queen, full of coarse insult and bitter
reproaches. Whereupon he suddenly sailed for England ;
and nothing ever came of his conference with O'Neill.
The remainder of his short career, ending in the block,
belongs to the history of England.
For some time after the departure of Essex there were
negotiations for peace ; but they were all rendered fruit-
less by the obstinacy of the queen and government on the
one vital point. O'Neill always insisted on perfect freedom
of religious worship ; but this was persistently refused ;
and he was told that he must ask something more reason-
able.
There had not indeed been much active interference
with religion. In every part of the country Mass waa
* Carew Papers, ir>89-ie00, p. 321 ; Four Masters, J599, p. 2139.
* Carew Papers. 1589-1600, p. 324.
506 INSUKRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paet IT.
regularly celebrated ; and so long as this was done quietly
the worshippers were not molested. Yet this lenity was
not prompted by any spirit of toleration but simply by
ft-ar. For the vast majority of the lords and gentlemen
of Ireland of both Irish and English blood that had re-
mained neutral during the war were Catholics, who, as
Carew states, sympathised with the rebels, and might be
driven to join them by any general attempt to suppress
Catholic worship. The State Papers aflford curious glimpses
of the feeling of the government on this matter. The
English privy council, on the 30th September 1600, write
to Sir George Carew complaining that, in "Wateribrd
especially, there were ' mass-houses,' with priests, friars, nuns,
&c., openly celebrating their religion. He was directed to
attempt to put a stop to all this, but very quietly for fear of
rebellion.* Carew himself was quite anxious to punish
the ' popish insolency ' of the citizens of Waterford : but
fearing to do so openly, he makes a most characteristic '
proposal to the council to get the names of the worst
offenders, and then ' matters of treason not tending to
religion may be sufficiently proved to convince [convict]
them : but if it do appear in the least that any part of
their punishment proceeds for matter of religion, it will
kindle a great fire in this kingdom.' ' And when the
queen appointed Mountjoy lord deputy she instructed him
not to take any violent measures on the score of religion
till she should have established her power in Ireland ; but
short of this she directed him to be very exact.*
O'Neill, seeing that he could not come to terms with
the government, broke off negotiations, and resolved to
visit Munster in order to unite the southern chiefs more
closely in the confederacy. He set out in January 1600
with an army of 3,000 men, and marching southwards
through Cashel, where he was joined by the Sugan earl,
' C(Mrew Paper$, 1589-1600, p. 457.
• Quite characteristic of CareVs • witt and cunning : ' see p. 508,
farther on.
°» Carew Paperg, 1589-1600, p. 470, written 25th October 1600. See
also the same volume, p. 388.
* Ibid. p. 356.
Chap.XIT. the EAEL OF ESSEX 507
he finally encamped at Inniscarra on the Lee, six miles
above Cork. Here most of the southern chiefs visited him
and acknowledged him as their leader.
While here he lost one of his best officers, Hugh
Maguire chief of Fermanagh, who is ^signated by Sir
John Davies ' a valiant rebel, and the stoutest that was
ever of his name.' It chanced that Magaire, riding with
only three attendants, fell in with Sir Warham Sentleger,
one of the two temporary governors of Munster, with a
party of horse. Both were renowned for personal prowess,
and here meeting face to face, neither would retire.
Maguire advanced with poised spear, but was met by a
pistol bullet from his adversary which mortally wounded
him. Spurring on with his remaining strength he trans-
fixed Sentleger in the neck, and then fought his way
through the English lines back to camp. He had barely
time to receive the last sacraments when he died : Sent-
leger survived the encounter only a few days.
For the last two years victory and success had attended
the Irish almost without interruption ; and Hugh O'Neill
earl of Tyrone had now attained the very pummit of his
power. But after this the tide began to tiurn ; and soon
came the day of defeat and disaster. In the next five
chapters I wUl relate the waning fortunes of the earl of
Tyrone and the waning fortunes of his country.
CHAPTER Xm ^
LORD MODNTJOY AND SIE GEORGE CAREW
The person chosen by the queen to succeed Essex as
deputy was Charles Blount, better known as Lord Mount-
joy, a man of great ability and foresight, and a more for-
midable adversary than any yet encountered by O'Neill.
This man took an aative interest in the morals of his
soldiers, for he had a dash of the missionary in his
character, and was pious in his way ; and I see no reason
to doubt his sincerity. But he must havfe had strange
608 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION PabtIV.
notions of religion : for at the very time the soldiers were
dutifully endeavouring to obey his stern order against
profane swearing, they were busily employed under his
direction, killing men, women, and children, and destroy-
ing the poor people's crops to bring on a famine: all
which will be duly related in this and the following
chapters.
He came to Ireland in February 1600, accompanied
by Sir George Carew the newly appointed president of
Munster. O Neill was at this time in his camp at Innis-
carra where he had tarried about six weeks. As soon as
he heard of the arrival of the new deputy he broke up his
camp, and successfully eluding the guards sent to intercept
him, he arrived safely in Ulster.
Sir George Carew, though nominally under the authority
of Mountjoy, was really as powerful ; he had the con-
fidence of the queen, and the friendship and support of
the English minister Cecil. He was a man of great
courage and ability, but avaricious, crafty, and unscrupu-
lous ; and he delighted, as he himself says, to accomplish
his ends by ' witt and cunning.' It will be remembered
that his brother had been killed in 1580 in Glenmalure
(p. 454), which inspired him with the most rancorous
hatred of the Irish; and his great comfort on entering
on his new position was, as he states, that it gave him an
opportunity of taking revenge on those who had a hand
in his brother's death.' One of his first acts after his
arrival in Ireland in 1583 was to murder with his own hand,
in open day on the quays of Dublin, in presence of several
persons, a man who, he was told on mere hearsay, had
boasted of being concerned in the deed. For this he was
never brought to account."
Before entering on his history let us note another
creditable feature of his character. He had considerable
literary taste and talent, and he made a very important
collection of historical documents relating to Ireland, a
work of much labour, which has lately been published in
six volumes, commonly known as the Carew Papers, so
' Carem Paj>er», 1515-1674, p. xiv. * Hid. zvi-xix.
CHAP.Xm. MOUNTJOY AND CAREW 509
often quoted in this book : a collection quite indispensable
to every student of Irish history. In addition to this he
has given us a full history of events occurring in Ireland
during his presidency, in a book called ^acata Hibemia
(Ireland pacified), written by himself or under his direc-
tion by his secretary. The Pacata Hibemia, though full
of bitter prejudice against the Irish, is a highly valuable
and interesting book ; and much of the materials for this
and the three following chapters has been derived from it.
The following account given by him^ of his plot to
capture the Sugan earl of Desmond is a good example of
what he meant by ' witt and cunning.' One of the most
trusted confederates in the south was Dermot O'Conor
Donn, a Connaught chief who commanded 1,400 Bonnaght-
men or hired troops drawn from Connaught and Ulster.
He was married to Lady Margaret daughter of the late
earl of Desmond — the rebel earl — and first cousin to the
present (Sugan) earl. Her brother, the true heir to the
earldom, was still detained in London (p. 448), and she
was naturally anxious for his restoration. Carew knew
all this, and he sent a confidential messenger to her, to
propose that her husband should betray the Sugan earl —
should in fact seize and give him up — which would of
course open the way for the restoration of her brother ;
and for this service he promised O'Conor a reward of
£1,000 and a commission in the queen's army. Lady
Margaret was captivated by these proposals, and induced
her husband to enter into the scheme.
When the plan had been all arranged it happened
that one Nugent, who had been a servant to Sir Thomas
Norris, and had turned over to the rebels after the death
of his master, now thinking that he could do better by
returning to the service of the crown, cam^ to Carew and
offered for pardon and reward to kill either the Sugan
earl or his brother John FitzThomas. As the Sugan
earl had been already provided for, Nugent was commis-
sioned to murder John ; but his part of the plot did not
' Pacata Hibemia, p. 90, ed. 1810, the edition I quote from aU
throQgh.
610 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION. PLANTATION Pabt IV.
succeed, for he was cauglit in the very act of levelling his
pistol and hanged on the spot.
The conspirators went to work very cautiously. In
order that O'Conor might have some excuse, Carew wrote
a letter from himself addressed to the Sugan earl, acknow-
ledging his many secret services to the state — as if he
had been a secret traitor — and directing him to deliver
up O'Conor alive or dead, which of course was all pre-
tence ; and this letter was given to O'Conor, who was to
say that he intercepted it. Immediately afterwards the
traitor obtained an interview with the Sugan earl, bring-
ing a suflBcient number of followers. During the confe-
rence he took occasion to raise a quarrel, and producing the
forged letter he accused the earl of treachery to the con-
federates, arrested him on the spot in the name of O'Neill,
and sent him a prisoner with some companions to the
fortress of Castle Lishen near Dromcollogher.
He then sent his wife to the president for the money.
But the rebels were too quick for him ; for John FitzThomas
and some others of the confederate leaders hastily mus-
tered 4,000 men, and before Carew had time to come up,
surrounded the castle and rescued the captive, dismissing
his guards unharmed. After this O'Conor, disappointed
and crestfallen, was expelled the province by the earl
and returned to Connaught. He got a reward indeed but
not what he had expected ; for in this s^iie year (1600),
while marching through Galway on Ms/^ay to Limerick
to meet his brother-in-law, the young )^1 of Desmond
who had come over from London, he was &ttafcked near Gort
by Theobald-na-Long, who seized him and^ut oflF his head.
But Carew, though given to that low cunning he so
well describes, was able and vigorous in his military
operations. On the 8th of July (1600) he took the castle
of Glin on the Shannon belonging to the knight of Glin,
one of the confederates, after an obstinate defence, and
executed all that remained of the garrison, with — as the
Four Masters say — some women and children. When
O'Conor Kerry heard of this, he was so frightened that
he surrendered his castle of Carrigafoyle, also on the
i ■ ■
Chap. Xm. MOUNTJOY AND CABEW 611
Shannon, the strongest fortress in all Kerry, and made
his submission to the president. After this many of the
minor chiefs demolished their castles and fled to the
mountains with their families.
During all this time Carew, like the deputy elsewhere
(pp. 516, 519), destroyed the crops wherever he went. He
got the two garrisons of Askeaton and Kilmallock to tra-
verse Connello in all directions, burning and spoiling
everything they could reach ; and he says ' scarcity already
begins, and when famine shall succeed, there is no means
for the rebel long to subsist.' '
Notwithstanding that Carew wrote triumphant accounts
of his successes, the authorities were still in great appre-
hension ; and they never felt themselves secure in the
south so long as the Sugan earl remained at the head of
the confederates. As they had failed to capture him, a
device was now resorted to for destroying his influence :
to liberate the son of the rebel earl and restore him to his
titles. Accordingly he was despatched from London after
his twenty-one years' absence from Ireland, with two
letters to Carew, one from the queen and the other from
her minister Cecil. Cecil instructs Carew to be careful
not to let the young lord escape, but if he should turn
out to be useless, then some excuse was to be invented
for arresting him : either he was to be all'^^d to join
the rebels by some person employed for tKe purpose, or
if this failed, then some one was to be suborned to swear
treason against him ; a piece of crooked statecraft which
it would be hard to surpass. Yet Cecil writes worse than
even this : — ' Take this from me, upon my life, that what-
ever you do to abridge him, which you shall saie to be d/me
out of providense, shall never be ymputed to you as a fault.
. . . Remember what I say to you : blame shall not betide
you for any caution (how curious soever) in the managing
of this young puer male dnctus.' All which conveys a
suggestion not to be misunderstood.*
' Girem Papers, 1859-1600, pp. 413, 414.
* Ibid. pp. 463, 464 ; and Life and Letters qf Florence Mae Cartkn
Mor, p. 318.
^
612 rNSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION PautIV.
Reports now (1600) went through all Munster of the
young lord's return, and when at last he arrived in Kil-
mallock, the old town rang with acclamations of joy ;
the people thronged the streets and windows, and even
climbed on the gutters and roofs to catch a glimpse of the
son of their old master ; so that it was with great difficulty
he made his way to his lodging.
Next day, Sunday, instead of accompanying the people
to Mass as they expected, he went to the Protestant
church, for he had been reared a Protestant in London.
They were astonished and shocked ; they crowded round
him, and in their own expressive language passionately
implored him not to desert the faith of his fathers. But
he did not understand one word of Irish, and taking not
the slightest notice of their entreaties, he passed on quietly
to church. Then their feelings of affection were changed
to loathing, and ' after service and the sermon was ended
the earle comming forth of the church, was railed at and
spet upon by those that before going to church were so
desirous to see and salute him.' ' The people returned
to their homes, and never again took the least notice of
him ; and as he was useless now to the government, a
mere shadow, insignificant and characterless, he was sent
back to London in March 1601, where he soon after died.
The activity of Carew now began to tell on the re-
bellion all over Munster. The garrison of Kilmallock
inflicted on the Sugan earl a crushing defeat, after which
he was reduced to the condition of a mere fugitive, fleeing
with a few followers from one hiding-place to another,
like his uncle some years before. The president offered
large rewards for taking him alive or dead, and there
was scarce a man of note in Munster that he did not
tempt to apprehend him.^
When all these plans failed, Carew tried another.
He traversed the plain of Limerick, burning all the houses
and all the corn — now stacked in the haggards, for it
> Pae. Hih. p. 164.
• All this is taken from the letter written by Carew himself on
2nd November 1600 : Carere Pcupert, 1589-1600, p. 471.
CHAP.Xm. MOUNTJOY AND CAREW 613
was December. This continued till the poor people over
an immense extent of country were left without food or
shelter. And Carew expressed his intention to destroy
and burn till the earl was given up. Yet no one ever
thought of betraying him, for he was, as Carew states,
' a man the most generally beloved of all sorts as well in
this town [Cork] as in the country.' ^
He was at last taken in the great Mitchelstown cave
by his old adherent the white knight, who delivered him
up to Carew for a reward of £1,000. He was tried and
found guilty of high treason; but he was not executed,
lest his brother John might be set up in his place and
give more trouble. He and Florence Mac Carthy, who
had submitted some time before,- were sent to the Tower
of London, where they remained till their death. With
the capture of these two, the most powerful of the Munster
confederates, the rebellion in the south came to an end for
the time.
While these events were taking place in the south,
O'Neill and O'Donnell were kept busy in the north. The
English had a garrison in Carrickfergus, from which they
dominated the surrounding country : and the authorities
now determined to carry out their long cherished project
of building forts and planting garrisons on the shores of
Lough Foyle, which would enable them to command the
nortit-western districts. For this purpose a powerful
armament of 4,000 foot and 200 horse, under the command
of Sir Henry Docwra,* with abundance of stores and
building materials, sailed for Longh Foyle in May 1600.
At the same time, in order to divert O'Neill's attention
and draw off opposition, Mountjoy marched north from
Dublin as if to invade Tyrone.
His strategy was quite successftil. O'Neill and
> Carew Papers, 1589-1600, p. 487, and ibid. 1601-1603, p. 76.
• He wrote two interesting tracts relating to the transactions in
Ireland in which he was engaged : — ' Relation of Service done in
Ireland ' and ♦ A Narration of the Services done by the Army ymployed
to Longh-Foyle,' which have been published in the Miscellany of the
Celtio Socuty for 1849. Both have been consulted and made use of in
this chapter.
L L
614 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION. PLANTATION Past IV
O'Donnell marched to oppose him, and took possession
of the Moyry Pass, a narrow and dangei'ous defile five
miles north of Dundalk, then the chief highway from the
south into Eastern Ulster. But the English forced the
pass after a sharp conflict on Whitsunday 1600, and
made their way to Newry, where they remained till
Mountjoy judged that he had given Docwra suflBcient
time to land. He then returned to Dublin in June,
making his way back, not by the Moyry, but round by
Carlingford.*
Meantime Docwra succeeded after some trifling oppo-
sition in landing at Culmore at the mouth of the Foyle,
where he erected a fort and left a garrison. Leaving
another garrison in O'Doherty's castle of Ellagh a little
inland, he sailed up the river and landed at Deny, the
site of St. Columkille's establishment, then almost un-
inhabited, where stood the ruins of a castle and of several
churches. Here he began the erection of two forts, in-
tending this to be his principal settlement on the Foyle.
In the midst of their work they were attacked by O'Neill
and O'Donnell, who had marched towards the Foyle the
moment Mountjoy had returned, but the garrison were
able to repel the attack and the Irish retired.
A little later on Docwra sailed 6till further up the
river and landed at Dunnalong, five miles from Derry, at
the Tyrone side, where in spite of the opposition of O'Neill
he built a fort and left a garrison. After this the two
chiefs hovered round the several settlements, attacking at
every opportunity and cutting ofi" stragglers ; but through
all diflBculties and privations the garrisons bravely held
their ground.
Let us now turn for a moment to the affairs of Leinster.
Owney O'Moore, the chief of Leix, had carried on the war
vigorously and successfully, and up to the present the
English had on the whole got the worst of it. ' In this
Bunmier many conflicts, battles, sanguinary massacres,
and bloodsheds, in which countless troops were cut off,
took place between the English and Irish of Leinster.' '
« Carew Paper*, 1589-1600, p. 388. • Fowr Masters, 1600, p. 2179.
Chap. XIIL MOUKTJOY AND CAREW 515
On the 10th of April 1600 a conference, was arranged
between O'Moore and the earl of Ormond near Ballyragget
in Kilkenny. To this meeting Ormond invited the earl
of Thomond and also Sir George Carew, who happened
to be then in Kilkenny on his way from Dublin to hia
presidency. During the parley some angry altercation
was carried on between Ormond and Father James Archer,
an Irish Jesuit who accompanied O'Moore. Some of the
clansmen, imagining that the priest was in danger, rushed
forward and attempted to seize the whole party. They
pulled Ormond from the saddle; but Carew, Thomond,
and the others, putting spurs to their horses, ^scaped
through the crowd : and Ormond was carried oflF by
O'Moore to his fastness. He was however released in the
following June at O'Neill's request. Carew says this
affair was an act of treachery, plotted by Archer ; the Irish
writers represent it as accidental and unpremeditated ; but
Mountjoy then and afterwards suspected that Ormond
himself, secretly sympathising with the rebels, had ar-
ranged the whole thing with them to avoid fighting against
them.
By this time O'Moore had succeeded in winning back
all \na own principality of Leix, except the fortress of
Port Leix or Maryborough. The people with his strong
hand to protect them had settled down in peace, had
brought back their land to cultivation, and were prosperous
and contented : and the country had quite recovered from
the eflFects of the desolating wars of the plantations.
Fynes Moryson, Mountjoy's secretary, who saw the dis-
trict at this time, says : — ' It seems incredible that by
so barbarous inhabitants ' — the English writers generally
speak of the Irish as barbarous — ' the ground should be so
manured [tilled], the fields so orderly fenced, the towns
so frequently [fully] inhabited, and the highways and
paths so well beaten as the lord deputy found them. The
reason whereof was that the queen's forces during these
wars never till then came among them.' '
But now all this was to be changed, for Mountjoy
' Moryson, i. 178.
1. L 2
516 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabt JV^
returning in July from a ourney north against O'Neill,
prepared for an expedition into Leix to punish the people
for their share in O'Neill's rebellion. And he adopted
the plan foreshadowed by Spenser (p. 459) and carried out
at this same time by Carew in the south (p. 511), of starv-
ing the whole population by destroying the growing crops.
He began this policy in Leix and continued it systematically
elsewhere during the whole period of his deputyship.
Setting out from Dublin in August with a force of
horse and foot, and a supply of si^'Hes, scythe», and
harrows, to cut and tear up the unripe corn,' the deputy
entered, Leix and Ossory and soon changed the face of
the country, burning, spoiling, and destroying everything.
* Our captains,' says Morybon, * and by their example (for
it was otherwise painful) the common soldiers, did cut
down with their swords all the rebels' com to the value
of £10,000 and upwards (more than :gl20,000 now; in a
tract of about twenty miles long by fifteen broad), the only
means by which they were to live.' ^ Mountjoy seems to
have thought this a pleasant and enjoyable sort of work ;
for in his letter to Carew he makes it the subject of a
joke: — 'I am very busy at harvest [work] in cutting
down the honest gentlemen's corn.' ' Moryson, as we saw,
calls the people barbarous ; but here the real barbarians
were certainly not the poor people but Mountjoy and his
subordinates.
This kind of warfare was new to O'Moore, and in the
anguish of his heart he wrote to the earl of Ormond, with
whom he was on terms of personal friendship, asking him
to put a stop to 'this execrable and abominable course,
and badd example to all the world,' as he described it.^
But as this just expostulation produced no effect, O'Moore
with the small force at his command attempted to ^ave
his people by attacking the destroyers on every available
opportunity ; and he lost his life in the attempt. In one
of the skirmishes he separated himself incautiously from
' Carew Papers, 1589-1600, p. 430 ; and Four Masters, 1600, p. 2187.
« Moryson, i. 178. » Carew Papers, 1589-1600, p. 422.
« Care^ Papers, 1589-1600, p. 439.
Chap. Xm. MOUNTJOY AND CAEEW 617
his party, and was struck dead by a inusket-ball on the
17th August 1600.1 After the death of the chief—' this
bloody and bold young man ' as Moryson calls him — there
was no further resistance, and Mountjoy continued his
work of destruction unchecked till he had ruined the
whole country ; after which he returned to Dublin, leaving
the people to despair and hunger, their smiling district
turned to a black ruin. And forthwith the English took
possession of Leix, and proceeded to repair all their dis-
mantled castles.
We left O'Neill and O'Donnell struggling against
Docwra at Lough Foyle. But now a circumstance befel
that quite crippled them in their efforts ; for two of their
leading sub-chiefs, Sir Art O'Neill the son of Turlogh
Lynnagh, and Niall Garve O'Donnell the cousin and
brother-in-law of Red Hugh, deserted them in the hour
of trouble and danger, and went over to the English. The
queen promised to make Sir Art earl of Tyrone in place
of the great rebel Hugh ; but he died in the same year
(1600) in the English camp.
Niall Garve was a man of much greater consequence.
Next to O'Neill and O'Donnell he was the ablest and
most influential of the northern chiefs, and as a reward
for joining the English he stipulated that he should get
Tirconnell, O'Donnell's principality; but he afterwards
extended his demands by claiming every district over
which O'Donnell had at any time exercised authority, not
only Tirconnell, but also Fermanagh and even Connaught.
He carried out his traitorous design in the following
manner. O'Donnell, setting out in October on a hostile
expedition against the earls of Clanrickard and Thomond,
left him in command to keep watch on the English garri-
sons. But as soon as he had got to a safe distance, Niall
Garve went over to the English at Derry with his three
brothers and a body of troops.
It was a lucky moment for the English that he did
Bo, for the garrison, cooped up and closely invested by
O'Donnell, had lost great numbers by death, and the men
» CcMrm Papers, 1589-1600, p. 43L
518 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paet iV.
were in the last extremity of distress from bad food, sick-
ness, and hardship.'
But Niall Garve relieved them from all this, and by
directing them where to send their plundering parties,
enabled them to supply themselves with plenty of pro-
visions. In the words of Docwra, ' the garrison both
heere [at Derry] and at Dunalong set divers of Preys and
of Catle, and did many other services all the winter longe ;
and I must confess a truth, all by the help and advise of
Neale Garvie and his Followers and the other Irish that
came in with Sir Arthur O'Neale, without whose intelli-
gence and guidance little or nothing could have been done
of ourselves, although it is true withall they had theire
owne ends in it, which were always for private Revenge,
and we ours to make use of them for the furtherance of
the Publique service.' Immediately after his desertion
Niall Garve, with a detachment of English, seized the
castle of Lifford, one of O'Donnell's fortresses, and held
it for Docwra.^ Meantime a messenger had been de-
spatched hob haste after O'Donnell to tell him of these
proceedings. Amazed and grieved he hastened back and
encamped beside Lifford ; but he was unable to recover
possession of it, for his traitorous cousin was an able and
valiant leader. He remained near the town however for
a month to enable the people of the neighbourhood to
gather their harvest and secure it from plunder; after
which he retired.
During all this time the deputy Mountjoy was as active
in his own district as Docwra and Carew in north and
south. He had scarce rested after his destructive raid in
Leix (p. 616) when he made another journey north in
September, the third to Ulster this year, and encamped at
Faughart near Dundalk. Here he remained a month ;
and he had to fight almost every day, for O'Neill kept in
his neighbourhood the whole time and attacked him at
• Four Matters, 1600, p. 2211.
• It may be worth while to note here that Niall Garve's wife—:
Knala, Red Hugh's sister— was so shocked at his treacher; that she left
him and never <^ter wards rejoined him.
Chap. Xm. MOUNTJOY AND CAEEW 5l9
every opportunity. Though Mountjoy, like his secretary
Moryson, writes boastfully about his victories while here,
it is obvious that he was hard set to hold his ground ; for
he had to write to Dubhn for reinforcements, and he re-
quested that the Dublin garrison should take steps to draw
off the rebels' attention from him : and the Four Masters
give a very unfavourable account of the result of his
expedition.^
In October he forced his way through the Moyry Pass,
and built a fort and planted a garrison at a place which
he called Mountnorris in honour of Sir John Norris. He
then by the queen's command proclaimed O^eill a traitor
and offered ^^2,000 for bringing him in aJive^ or j<S 1,000
dead. Having remained altogether two months in the
north, still burning and destroying the people's com, he
made his return journey round by Carlingford. Here in
the narrow passage between Carlingford mountain and tiie
sea he was intercepted by O'Neill, and after a severe action
attended by much loss on both sides, he forced his way
through and got back to Dublin. ^
The O'Byrnes of Wicklow, under their chief Felim,the
son of the old ' firebrand of the mountains,' had for some
time been giving trouble, making nightly inroads down the
hill-slopes towards Dublin. At Christmas tim^ Mountjoy
made a sudden raid on them, and coming ubawares on
Felim's house captured his wife and eldest son, the chief
himself barely escaping through a window. Here the
deputy remained a month driving away the cattle, and
burning and destroying the houses and com.
In the following year (1601) towards the end of May
he set out from Dublin on another expedition to the north,
and again encamped at Faughart. The Moyry Pass,
which lay a little north of the camp, was in some way left
unguarded by O'Neill ; and the watchful deputy, taking
instant advantage of this, built a castle in the middle of
it, in which he left a garrison of 200 men ; so that this
most dangerous pass was ever after open to him.
' Four Masters, 1600, pp. 2223-2225; Carew Papers, 1689-1600,
p. i66 ; Moryson, i. p. 296 and preceding pages.
520 INSURRECnON, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Part IT.
From Faughart lie went to the Blackwater, and took
possession of the old fort of Portmore, which had remained
in the hands of the Irish since the battle of the Yellow
Ford. He built a new fort and remained encamped beside
it for six weeks ; and every day he sent out parties of men
to destroy the green corn. He made several attempts to
penetrate farther into O'Neill's territory; but he was
always forced back with more or less loss. While here he
renewed his proclamation of reward for bringing in O'Neill
alive or dead ; but ' the Name of O'Neal was so reverenced
in the North as none could be induced to betray him upon
the large reward set upon his head.' ' But danger came
from another quarter. ' One Walker an Englishman '
offered to assassinate him. The offer was made to Sir
Henry Davers governor of Armagh, who by the consent
and advice of Mountjoy accepted it, and passed Walker
through the English lines on his way to the Irish camp.
At the last moment however this fellow failed through
cowardice. When he returned he ' behaved himself in such
sort, as his lordship [Mountjoy] judged him frantic, though
not the less fit for such a purpose ' [i.e. to murder O'Neill] :
and Mountjoy, in order to clear himself and Davers from
the discredit of having failed, sent the fellow a prisoner to
England to give an account there of his proceedings.^
Leaving captain Williams governor of the new fort at
Portmore, who had so valiantly defended it three years
before, Mountjoy returned to the Pale in the end of
August. He had served the queen well in this excursion,
for he forced many of the smaller chiefs to submit, and
left garrisons in several important strongholds.
By this time the rebellion may be said to have been
crushed in the three southern provinces. In Ulster,
though O'Neill and O'Donnell were still actively engaged in
defensive warfare, they had become greatly circumscribed ;
for the deputy had possession of all the main strongholds,
and was daily gaining a firmer grasp on the province.
But the rebellion was now fated to be renewed in another
quarter of the island.
• Moryson, i. 276. « THd. 289. 290.
OoAP.XIV. THE SIEGE AKD BATTLE OF KlNSALE &21
CHAPTER XIY
THE SIEGE AND BATTLE OF KINSAlj^*
It had lately been rumoured in England and Ireland that
Philip III. of Spain had sent a fleet with troops to aid the
Catholics of Ireland. The rumour proved correct. On
the 23rd of September 1601 the Spanish fleet entered the
harbour of Kinsale with 3,400 troops under the command
of Don Juan del Aguila. They immediately took pos-
session of the town and placed garrisons in two outlying
castles at both sides of the entrance to the harbour,
Rincorran on the east and Castle-na-park on the west.
And Del Aguila despatched a message to Ulster to O'Neill
and O'Donnell, earnestly urging them to come south
without delav.
But from the very beginning this expedition seems to
have been attended by ill-luck. The force, which originally
consisted of 6,000, became reduced by delays in em-
barking; and after sailing, the fleet was scattered by a
storm, so that seven of the ships laden with artillery, small
arms, and stores, had to put back into Corunna. The
help came at the wrong time, for the Irish had greatly lost
ground. The choice of commander was unfortunate. Del
Aguila, though he had seen some service and was a brave
soldier, was quite unfit to lead such an expedition, which
required patience and cool judgment ; whereas he was hot-
tempered, self-willed, and impatient under difiiculties.
And worst of all, instead of landing in Ulster, now the
chief seat of the rebellion, they chose Munster, where
Carew had, only a few months before, thoroughly crushed
the power of the insurgents : but for this last Del Aguila
could not be blamed, as he had not heard of what had
lately taken place in Munster.
' Detailed descriptions of the siege and battle of Kinsale are given
by Carew in Pacata Hihernia ; by the Four Masters ; and by Philip
O'Sullivan Beare in his Hist. Cath. Ibern. Compendium,: and chiefly
from these the accoant in this chapter is taken.
522 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Past IV.
The Spanish commander had expected that all Munster
would be up in arms on his arrival ; but he was bitterly
disappointed when he found that the Sugan earl and
Florence Mac Carthy had been taken (p. 513), and that
only three chiefs of any consequence joined him : Donall
O'Sullivan Beare, O'DriscoU, and O'Conor of Kerry. All
the others were now either prisoners or allies of the Eng-
lish : and the peasantry, thoroughly cowed by the recent
proceedings of Carew, showed no disposition to join the
Spanish standard.
Mountjoy and Carew were sitting in council in Kilkenny
when an express arrived from Sir Charles Wilmot, who
then commanded in Cork, with the news that the Spanish
fleet had arrived. They set out instantly ; and on their
arrival in Cork, they sent out couriers in every direction to
muster troops. At the end of three weeks they encamped
on the north side of the town with an army of 12,000 men ;
and after some time they were joined by the earls of Tho-
mond and Clanrickard, with additional reinforcements.
The receipt of Del Aguila's letters placed the northern
chiefs in great difficulty. Their presence was urgently
required in Ulster, where they still kept up a brave de-
fensive struggle ; and now they njust either abandon their
own province to its fate or leave Del Aguila to fight his
battles unaided. Yet they never hesitated, but made
instant preparations for their march south, though winter
was now setting in.
O'Donnell was first. After a hasty preparation he set
out from Ballymote with about 2,500 men of the septs of
Tirconnell and North Connaught. Crossing the Shannon
near the present Shannon Harbour in King's County, he
proceeded into Tipperary, and encamped on Moydrum Hill,
midway between Roscrea and Templemore, where he re-
mained for nearly three weeks awaiting O'Neill ; after
which he moved farther south one day's march and again
encamped near ITolycross. While here his scouts brought
him word that Sir George Carew had been despatched by
the deputy to intercept him, and was now encamped si^:
or eight miles off ne^.^r Cashel.
CirAP. XIV, THE SIEGE AND BATTLE OF KINSALE 523
O'Donnell, wishing to reserve his strength, was deter-
mined to reach Kinsale without fighting. But the president
lay right in his path : the Slieve Felim mountains on his
right — to the west — were impassable f(^ an army with
baggage on account of recent heavy rains ; and he dared
not go roundabout east through Kilkenny, as he might
encounter the armv of the Pale, so that there seemed no
way by which he could move south. Luckily there came
a sudden and intense frost on the night of the 22nd of
November, which hardened up bog and morass and made
them passable. The Irish general, instantly taking ad-
vantage of this, set out that night westweirds, crossed the
Slieve Felim mountains with his hardy followers, making
his way through the transverse glens, and passing Abbey-
Owney (now Abington), he reached Groom the next night
after a march of forty English miles — ' the greatest march
with [incumbrance of] carriage,' eays Carew, ' that hath
been heard of.' But in this journey he had to abandon
much of his baggage.
When Carew was told of O'Donnell's sudden departure,
he started in pursuit four hours before day on the morning
of the 23rd, hoping to intercept him in a dangerous pass
near Abington ; but by the time he had arrived at Abing-
ton O'Donnell was far in front, and he barely reached
Kilraallock when the Irish had got to Groom, So finding
he could not overtake them he turned south and made a
ha^ty march to Kinsale. O'Donnell now moving leisurely
in order to rest his men, arrived at Gastlehaven where he
encamped for a few days. At this same time the missing
part of the Spanish fleet sailed into Gastlehaven, bring-
ing 700 Spanish troops. Part of these were now sent
to garrison the castles of Gastlehaven, ^Baltimore, and
Dunboy : the remainder, under their officer Don Alfonso
Ocampo, joined O'Donnell and marched with him to
Kinsale.
During the month of November the English had carried
on the siege vigorously. The two castles of Rincorran
and Gastle-na-park were reduced by cannonade and taken
from the Spaniards, and a fleet of English ships blockaded
524 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabt IV*
the bay, so that the town was completely invested. There
were daily skirmishes between besiegers and besieged.
The English ordnance made a breach in the walls, and a
storming party of 2,000 attempted to force their way in,
but after a desperate struggle were repulsed. On the
other hand, one stormy night, 2,000 of the Spaniards made
a determined sally to destroy some siege works, but were
driven off after a sharp contest, without accomplishing
their object.
After O'Donnell's arrival things began to go against
the English, who were hemmed in by the town on one side
and by the Irish army on the other, so that they were now
themselves besieged. They were threatened with famine ;
they could procure no fodder for their horses ; and the
weather was so inclement that they lost numbers of their
men every day by cold and sickness.
O'Neill arrived on the 2l8t December with an army
of about 4,000, and encamped at Belgooly, north of the
town, about three miles from the English lines. He saw
at once how matters stood, and his plan was to avoid
fighting — to remain simply inactive and let the English
army melt away. Already, during three months of siege,
more than 6,000 of the English had perished ; ' and had
his counsel been now followed, success was certain. But
he was overruled. The Spanish commander Del Aguila,
who was ignorant of the country and of its mode of war-
fare, and should have submitted to O'Neill's experience,
grew impatient under his own privations, and sent pressing
letters to the Irish chiefs to attack, believing that the
English were so worn out as to be unable to fight well.
O'Donnell, fiery and impetuous as he was, sided with
him ; and against O'Neill's judgment it was decided that
a simultaneous attack should be made by the Irish on
one side and the Spaniards on the other, on the night of
the 3rd of January, 1602 (New Style).
But a traitor in the Irish camp, Brian Mac Mahon,
gave secret warning to captain William Taaffe, one of
Mountjoy's officers. Taaffe instantly told Mountjoy, who
> Carew Pa/per», 1601-1603, p. 305.
Chap. XIV. THE SIEGE AND BATTLE OF KINSALE 525
placed his army in readiness ; and the communication
between the Irish and Spaniards miscarried, so that Del
Aguila'e attack never came oflf. The Irish set out under
cover of the darkness in three divisions : captain Tyrrell
led the van; O'Neill, under whom were O'Sullivan
Beare and Ocampo, commanded the centre ; and O'Donnell
the rear. The night was unusually dark, wet, and stormy ;
the guides lost their way, and the army wandered aimlessly
and wearily ; till at length at the dawn of day O'Neill
unexpectedly found himself near the English lines, which
he saw were quite prepared to receive him. Instead of
surprising Mountjoy, he was himself surprised. His own
men were wearied and his lines in some disorder, and
O'Donnell had not yet come up ; so he ordered the army
to retire a little, either to place them in better order of
battle or to postpone the attack.
But Mountjoy's quick eye caught the situation, and
sending back Carew to guard the camp against the sallies
of the Spaniards from the town, he hurled his cavalry on
the retreating ranks. For a whole hour 0/^eill defended
himself, still retiring, till his retreat becatae little better
than a rout. Tyrrell and O'Donnell, ^when they were
able to take part in the battle, fought tenaciously as they
always did. But nothing could retrieve the rout of the
centre ; the superhuman eflPorts of O'Neill and Red Hugh,
of Tyrrell and O'Sullivan, to rally their men, were all in
vain ; and they lost the battle of Kinsale.
According to the English accounts 1,200 of the Irish
were killed ; but the Four Masters on the Irish side say
that 'although they were routed the number slain was
not very great on account of the fewness of the pursuers.*
Carew states that the English loss was comparatively trifling,
which is no doubt true. Of 300 Spaniards that entered
the field under Ocampo only forty-nine with their leader
survived. The earl of Clanrickard — a Catholic— fought
with great fury on the side of the deputy; he killed
twenty kern with his own hand in the pursuit, and he
gave orders that all Irish prisoners should be killed the
moment they were taken. Those of the Irish who were
t
62G INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLAKTATION PabtIV.
captured by other oflScers were sent at once to the camp
and hanged.
On the night following that fatal day the Irish chiefs
retired with their broken army to Innishannon. Here
they held a sad council, in which it was resolved that
O'Donnell should proceed to Spain to solicit further help
from king Philip, leaving his Tirconnellian forces in
command of his brother Rory. And inasmuch as it was
now the depth of winter, when another campaign was
out of the question, it was decided to suspend active
operations pending the issue of O'Donnell's mission. Ac-
cordingly O'Neill made a rapid retreat to Ulster, and
Rory O'Donnell led his own men back to Sligo.
After the dispersal of the Irish army the lord deputy
continued the siege vigorously. But Del Aguila lost
heart and offered to surrender on honourable terms. The
deputy was only too glad to end hostilities, and agreed to
everything demanded ; for he anticipated another expedi-
tion from Spain, and he dreaded a continuance of the war
in the weakened state of his army. Nine days after the
battle, Del Aguila gave up possession of the town, marching
forth with colours flying and drums beating, with all hi?
arms, ammunition, and valuables ; and he agreed to sur-
render the castles of Castlehaven, Baltimore, and Dunboy.
Mountjoy on his part agreed to convey him and his army
back to Spain,
After the capitulation Del Aguila formed a friendship
with Carew, and expressed himself about the Irish in
the most contemptuous terms, blaming them for the defeat
before Kinsale, which had been chiefly brought about by
his own impatience and incompetency. When news of
the defeat reached Spain the king wrote to him to -hold
out till another expedition — then in preparation — should
arrive, which he might have done, as he had suflBcient men,
arms, and provisions. But in his haste he had capitulated
even before the letter was written ; and when the king
subsequently heard of the surrender of the town and of
the capture of Dunboy, he abandoned for the time all
intention of further expeditions. Del Aguila was justly
)
Chap. XIV. THE SIEGE AND BATTLE OF KINSALE 527
blamed for his conduct, and soon after his arrival in Spain
he was placed under arrest, which so affected him that he
died of grief.
Immediately after the council at Tnnishannon O'Donnell
went on board a Spanish ship and sailed for Spain. He
was treated everywhere with the greatest respect and
honour. The king received him most cordially and with
all the high consideration due to a prince, and assured
him that he would send with him to Ireland an armament
much more powerful than that of Del Aguila.
But Red Hugh O'Donnell never saw his native Ulster
more. He took suddenly ill at Simancas, and his bodily
ailment was intensified by sickness of heart ; for he had
heard of the surrender of Kinsale and of th'e fall of Dun-
boy ; and he died on the 10th September ip the twenty-
ninth year of his age. His death however w^s not brought
on by natural illness : there is the best rea(son to believe
that he fell a victim to foul play. The Jrish annalists
and people of the time had no knowledge of what went
on, and we derive all our information on the point from
Snglish authorities, including Carew.
In the month of May 1602 a miscreant named Blake
Game to president Carew and offered to follow O'Donnell
into Spain and kill him. He did not say how it was to
be done, but he assured the president that he would
accomplish it. Carew applauded the design, and eagerly
closed with the offer. He himself tells thfe whole story
in a letter written — partly in cipher — to Lord Mountjoy,
who was also in the secret. ' God give him strength and
perseverance,' says Carew, * I told him I would acquaint
your lordship with it.' I
Blake accordingly set out, and after his arrival in
Spain he kept Carew well informed of how matters pro-
gressed. Meantime O'Donnell was suddenly carried off
as related above : and in October of the same year, when
news of his death had reached Ireland, Carew again
writes to Mountjoy, gloating over the event in this
fashion : — ' O'Donnell is dead. ... and I do think it will
fall out that he is poisoned by James Blake, of whom
528 INSURKECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Paet IV.
your lordship hath been formerly acquainted. At his
[Blake's] coming into Spain he was suspected of O'Donnell
because he had embarked at Corke, but afterwards he
insinuated his access — and O'Donnell is dead.' ^
The body of O'Donnell was brought to Valladolid,
and by command of King Philip was buried with royal
honours in the church of the Franciscan monastery. The
church has long since disappeared ; and now no monu-
ment marks the grave of Red Hugh O'Donnell.
CHAPTER XV
THE SIEGE OF DUNBOY ■
The Irish chiefs were very indignant with Del Aguila for
surrendering Kinsale ; and they were incensed beyond
measure when they heard that he had agreed to hand over
to the deputy the castles of Baltimore, Castlehaven, and
Dunboy. Donall O'Sullivan Beare especially, whose castle
of Dunboy was the strongest and most important of the
three, denounced the transaction as cowardly and dis-
> CareTC Papers, 1601-1603, pp. 241, 350, 351. Besides the attempts or
incentives to assassinate Shane O'Neill, John Fitzthomas, Hugh O'Neill
earl of Tyrone, Red Hugh O'Donnell, and the young earl of Desmond re-
lated at pp. 408, 413, 414, 509, 511, 520, and 527, the State Papers reveal
many other similar plots ; and it is proper to observe that the authorities
for these are all English, several being the letters of the very plotters
themselves. Even the bluff old soldier Perrott engaged one Thady
Nolan to poison Fiach Mac Hugh O'Byme ; and in a letter to the coancU
(3rd October 155)0) he justifies it by Sussex's attempt to poison Shane
O'Neill (Cal of State Papers, Eng. Lomegt. 1590, p. 691). Carew em-
ployed ' one Annyas an Irishman ' to kill Florence Mac Carthy More (^Life
of Florence Mac Carthy Peagh by Daniel Mac Carthy, 1867, p. 302). We
may expect to find many more instances when more State Papers are
published. No doubt the plotters thought their fearful letters were
consigned to everlasting secrecy ; but the editors of the State Papers,
with unrelenting impartiality, have brought them forth to the light of
day. I fear we must admit that during the reign of Elizabeth assassina-
tion was not merely a thing of occasional occurrence, but a recognised
mode of dealing with Irish chiefs.
• The narrative in this chapter is founded chiefly on those of Carew
in Paoaia Hiiemia, and of O'Sullivan Beare in his History of the Irish
Catholics.
1
Chap. XV. THE SIEGE OF DUNBOT 629
honourable ; for he had intrusted his castle, as he said, to
the safe-keeping of Del Aguila, who was bound in honour
to return it to the owner.
Danboy had not yet been given up however ; and
O'Sullivan resolved to regain possession of it. It was still
held by the Spanish garrison ; and at the dead of night,
while the Spaniards were sound asleep, O'Sullivan, by
breaking a hole in the wall, in February 1602, threw in a
body of native troops under the command of Richard
Mac Geoghegan and Thomas Taylor an Englishman. The
Spaniards were overpowered and sent away, all but a few
cannoniers who were kept to serve the artillery. And now
Mac Geoghegan's whole garrison amounted to 143 men,
who straightway began to make preparations for a siege.
It might seem an act of madness for such a small garri-
son to attempt a defence against the overwhelming force at
the disposal of Carew : but O'Sullivan hoped that O'Donnell
would return with help from King Philip, and that the
fortress could hold out till the arrival of the Spaniards.
For a considerable time before this, O'Sullivan had been
strengthening the castle and fortifying the approaches ;
and it had now the reputation of being impregnable. It
was situated on a point of the mainland jutting' into the
channel west of Beare Island ; it was almost impossible to
reach it by land, because the approach lay through a vast
extent of hills, bogs, and rocks ; and it was hard to come
at it by sea on account of the ruggedness of the coast.
When Carew began preparing to besiege this castle,
his friends tried to dissuade him from what they believed
a rash and impossible enterprise. But his resolution was
proof against all persuasion. Knowing well that the castle
was regarded by the southern Irish as their most impor-
tant stronghold, he expressed his belief that its capture
would discourage the Spaniards from further^invasion —
which indeed turned out true ; and he declared that nothing
should hinder hini from making Queen Elizabeth mistress
of Dunboy.
He set out from Cork with an army of 3^00 men, ac-
companied by O'Brien earl of Thomond; and on the 30 th
M M
530 INSUERECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pakt IV.'
of April 1602 encamped near Bantry to await the arrival
of his ships with the ordnance and stores. Sir Charies
Wilmot, who had been employed with 1,000 men reducing
the insurgents in North Kerry, now directed his march
south to join the president. His passage was disputed
near Mangerton mountain by the indefatigable Tyrrell (of
Tyrrell's Pass : p. 492) ; but he forced his way and entered
the camp on the 11th of May. On the same day the ships
appeared at the mouth of Bantiy Bay: a glad sight to
the president and his men, who had by that time consumed
nearly all their provisons.
On account of the insurmountable difficulty of the land
journey, the whole army was conveyed to Great Beare
Island by sea in the first few days of June. On the 6 th
they entered the narrow strait at the north of the island,
and landed near the present Castletown Beare. Then
marching west they encamped near the ill-starred castle.
The devoted little garrison never flinched at sight of the
powerful armament of 4,000 men, and only exerted them-
selves all the more resolutely to strengthen their position.
And now the siege was begun in good earnest, and day
after day the ordnance thundered against the walls. On
the 17th of June the castle was so shattered that Mac
Geoghegan sent to Carew offering to surrender, on con-
dition of being allowed to march out with arms : but Carew's
only answer was to hang the messenger and to give orders
for a final assault. The storming party were resisted with
desperation and many were killed on both sides ; but the
defenders were driven from turret to turret by sheer force
of numbers : till at last they had to take refuge in the
eastern wing which had not yet been injured.
The only way to reach this was by a narrow passage
where firearms could not be used ; and a furious hand to
hand combat was kept up for an hour and a half, while from
various standpoints the defenders poured down bullets,
stones, and every available missile on the assailants, killing
and wounding great numbers.
While this was going on some of the besiegers, by
clearing away a heap of rubbish, made their way in by a
Chap. XV. THE SIEGE OF DUNBOY ^ 581
back passage, so that the garrison found themselves assailed
on all sides ; whereupon forty of them sallying out, made
a desperate rush for the sea, intending to swim to the island.
But before they had reached the water they were inter-
cepted and cut down, all but eight who plunged into the
sea ; and for these the president had provided by stationing
a party with boats outside, ' who,' in Carew's'^ords, * had
the killing of them all.'
This furious struggle had lasted during the whole long
summer day, and it was now sunset ; the castle was a mass
of ruins, and the number of the garrison was greatly re-
duced. Late as it was the assault was vigorously renewed ;
and after another hour's fighting the assailants gained all
the upper part of the castle ; and the Irish, now only
seventy-seven, took refuge in the cellars. Then Carew,
leaving a strong guard at the entrance, withdrew his men
for the night ; while those in the castle enjoyed their brief
rest as best they could, knowing what was to come with
the light of day.
On the next morning — the 18th of June — ^Taylor was
in command ; for Mac Geoghegan was mortally wounded ;
and the men resolved to defend themselves to the last,
except twenty-three who laid down their arms and sur-
rendered. Carew now directed his cannons on the cellars
till he battered them into ruins on the heads; of the de-
voted band; and at length Taylor's men forced him to
surrender. When a party of English entered to take the
captives, Mac Geoghegan, who was lying on th^ floor, his
life ebbing away, snatched a lighted candle from Taylor's
hand, and exerting all his remaining strength^; staggered
towards some barrels of powder which stood in a corner
of the cellar. But captain Power, one of Carew's officers,
caught him and held him in his arms, while the others
killed him with their swords. |
On that same day Carew executed fifty-eight of those
who had surrendered. Fifteen others, among whom were
Taylor and a friar named Dominick Collins^ 'the lord
* This was Donogh Oge O'Cnllane chief of the O'Cnllanes of the terri-
tory round Castlelyons in Cork, who, when Boyle earl of Cork had s&ised
M M 2
:'l
532 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Past IV.
president reserved alive, to try whether he could draw
them to do some more acceptable service than their lives
were worth.' ^ But after some time, finding that they
could not be tempted to inform on their associates, he had
them all executed.
We might perhaps expect that a brave man would
show some mercy to brave men who had done their duty.
But no mercy here : and Carew is able to boast that of the
143 defenders of Dunboy ' no one man escaped, but were
either slaine, executed, or buried in the ruins ; and so
obstinate and resolved a defence had not been seene within
this kingdom.' The powder that was in the vaults was
heaped together and ignited ; and all that remained of
Dunboy was blown into fragments, except two parallel
side walls which still remain.^
CHAPTER XVI
THE RETREAT OF O'SULLIVAN BEARB
After the capture of Dunboy, Donall O'SuUivan the lord
of Beare and Bantry had no home; for his other chief
fortress on Dursey Island had also been taken, and its
garrison, and all the people of the little island, men,
women, and children, were put to the sword.^ He was
however at the head of a formidable band, which he and
Tyrrell held together among the glens of Cork and Kerry,
still fondly hoping for help from King Philip. But towards
the end of the year (1602) ill news came from Spain —
his property, went abroad, and after extraordinary vicissitudes, joined
the church. He was really a Jesuit, a non-combatant, though Carew
calls him a friar. (Rev. Edm. Hogan, S.J., in the Month, July 1890.)
' Pao. Hib. 574.
' Mr. T. D. Sullivan has related in verse the story of this siege in
his fine poem of Dwnboy.
* * He [Sir Charles Wilmot] sent Captaine Flemming with his pin-
nace, and certaine souldiers into Osulevans land [Dursey Island]. . . .
They tooke from thence certaine cowes andsheepe, which were reserved
as in a sure storehouse, and put the churls to the sword that inhabited
therein.'— P«<j. Bib. p. 659.
Chap. XVI. THE EETREAT OF O'SULLIVAN BEAEE 533
that O'Donnell was dead, and that King Philip, on hearing
of the fall of Dunboy, had countermanded the intended
expedition.
Many of O'Sullivan's followers now abandoned him
in despair ; and at last even Tyrrell and his party had
to leave him. The English forces were gradually hemming
him in, and towards the end of December Sif Charles
Wilmot encamped in Glengarriff within two miles of him.
For several days there was skirmishing between the out-
posts of the two armies, and at last the English succeeded,
after a bitter fight of six hours, in driving off from before
the camp of the Irish a vast number of horses, cows, and
sheep, their chief means of subsistence.
Finding that he could no longer maintain himself and
his followers where he was, O'Sullivan resolved to bid
farewell to the land of his inheritance and seek a refuge
in Ulster. On the last day of the year 1602 he set out
from Glengarriff on his memorable retreat^ with 400
fighting men, and 600 women, children, and servants.
The march was one unbroken scene of conflict and hard-
ship. They were everywhere confronted or pursued by
enemies, who attacked them when they dared ; and they
suffered continually from fatigue, cold, and hunger.
They fled in such haste that they were able to bring
with them only one day's provisions, trusting to be able
to obtain food as they fared along ; for O'Sullivan had
plenty of money, which had been sent to him from Spain.
But they found the country people too much terrified by
Carew's threats to give them help or shelter or to sell
them provisions. As they could not buy, they had either
to take by force or starve, which explains much of the
hostility they encountered; for no man will permit his
substance to be taken without resistance. But it must
be confessed that some of the Irish chiefs attacked him
on his way for no other motive than to gain favour with
the government. Scarce a day pa;ssed without loss : some
fell behind or left the ranks overcome with weariness ;
some sank and died under accumulated hardships ; and
others were killed in fight.
634 INSUERECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabt IT.
The first day they made their way to Ballyvourney,
after a journey of about twenty-four miles over the moun-
tains. Here they rested for the night ; and going to the
little church next morning before resuming their march,
they laid offerings on the altar of the patron — the virgin
saint Gobinet — and besought her prayers for a prosperous
journey. On next through Duhallow, fighting their way
through a hostile band of the Mac Carthys, till they
reached Liscarroll, where John Barry of Buttevant attacked
their rear as they crossed the ford, and after an hour's
fighting killed four of their men, but lost more than four
himself. Skirting the north base of the Ballyhoura Moun-
tains by Ardskeagh, they encamped one night beside the old
hill of Ardpatrick. Their next resting place was the Glen
of Aherlow, where among the vast solitudes of the Galtys
they could procure no better food than herbs and water ;
and the night sentries found it hard to perform their duty,
oppressed as they were with fatigue and hunger. For
the first part of their journey they made tentg each
evening to sleep in ; but they were not able to continue
this, so that they had to lie under the open sky, and they
suffered bitterly from the extreme cold of the nights.
Next northwards from the Galtys across the Golden
Vale, over the great plain of Tipperary, fighting their
way through enemies almost every hour. While one
detachment of the fighting men collected provisions, the
others remained with the main body to protect the women
and children ; and the whole party were preserved from
utter destruction only by the strict discipline maintained
by the chief.
O'Sullivan's wife, who accompanied the party, carried
and nursed so far through all her hardships her little boy,
a baby two years old ; but now she had to part with him.
She intrusted him to the care of one of her faithful de-
pendants, who preserved and reared him up tenderly,
and afterwards sent him to Spain to the parents. We
are not told how it fared with this lady and some others ;
but as they did not arrive with the rest at the end of the
journey, they must, like many others, have fallen behind
Chap. XVI. THE EETREAT OF O'SULLIVAN BEAEE 635
during the terrible march, and been cared for, as they are
heard of afterwards.
The ninth day of their weary journey , found them
beside the Shannon near Portland in the north of
Tipperary; and here they rested for two nights. But
theii enemies began to close in on them frqm the Tip-
perary side, and no time was to be lost; so they pre-
pared to cross the broad river opposite the castle of
Kiltaroe or Redwood. Among them was a man, Dermot
O'Hcolahan by name, skilled in making curraghs or hide
boate. Under his direction they constructed boat-frames
of boughs, interwoven with osier twigs in the usual way.
They then killed twelve of their horses, and carefully
husbanding the flesh for food, they finished their curraghs
by covering the skeleton boats with the skins.^ In these
they crossed the river ; though at the last moment their
rearguard had a sharp conflict with the sheriff of Tipperary,
Donogh Mac Egan the owner of Redwood Castle, who
with his party came up, and in spite of O'Sullivan's earnest
expostulations, attacked them, and attempted to throw
some of the women and children into the river. But
O'SuUivan turned on him, and killed himself and many of
his men.
Nothing better awaited them on the other side of the
Shannon. Pushing on northwards through O'KeUy's
country, they had to defend themselves in skirmish after
skirmish. As most of the horses had by this time quite
broken down, O'Sullivan had to abandon the wounded
to their certain fate; and their despairing cries rang pain-
fully in the ears of the flying multitude. Sometimes
when they came near a village, a party was despatched
for provisions, who entered the houses and seized every-
thing in the shape of food they could lay hands on,
satisfying their own hunger while they searched, and
bringing all they could gather to their st£)jving com-
panions.
At Aughrim they were confronted by captain Henry
Malbie and Sir Thomas Burke of Clanrickafd, with a
force much more numerous than their own. O'Sullivan,
536 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabt IV.
addressing his famished and desperate little band of fight-
ing men in a few encouraging words, placed them so that
they were protected on all sides except the front, where
the assailants had to advance on foot through a soft boggy
pass. Malbie, despising the. fugitives, sprang forward at
the head of his followers, but fell dead at the first onset.
On rushed O'Sullivan and his men : it must be either
victory or destruction ; and after a determined and bitter ,
fight, they scattered their assailants, and freed themselves
from that great and pressing danger.
Onwards over Slieve Mary near Castlekelly, and through
the territory of Mac David Burke, where the people,
headed by Mac David himself, harassed them all day long
to prevent them from obtaining provisions. Near Ballin-
lough in the west of Roscommon they concealed themselves
in a thick wood, intending to pass the night there. But
they got no rest : for a friendly messenger came to vram
them that Mac David and his people were preparing to
surround them in the morning and slay them all. So they
resumed their march and toiled on wearily through the
night in a tempest of sleet, splashing their way through
melting snow, and in the morning found themselves pur-
sued by Mac David, who however was cowed by their
determined look, and did not dare to come to close
quarters.
Arriving at another solitary wood, they found the people
friendly ; and they lighted fires and refreshed themselves.
They next crossed the Curlieu Hills southwards to Knock-
vicar, beside the river Boyle where it enters Lough Key,
and here they took some rest. For days past they had
undergone unspeakable sufferings. Avoiding the open
roads, they had to cross the country by rugged, rocky, and
unfrequented ways, walking all the time, for horses could
not be used. The weather was inclement, snow falling
heavily, so that they had sometimes to make their way
through deep drifts ; and many of those who continued
able to walk had to carry some of their companions who
were overcome by fatigue and sickness.
Their hope all through had been to reach the territory
Ceap. XVI. THE EETEEAT OF O'SULLIVAN EEARE 537
of O'Ruarc of Brefney ; and next morning w^en the sun
rose over Knockvicar, their guide pointed opt to them, a
few miles ofif, the towers of O'Ruarc's residence, Leitrim
Castle. At eleven o'clock the same day they entered the
hospitable mansion, where a kind welcome awaited them.
They had set out from Glengarriff a fortnight before,
one thousand in number ; and that morning only thirty-five
entered O'Rourke's castle: eighteen armed men, sixteen
servants, and one woman, the wife of the chief's uncle,
Dermot O'Sullivan.^ A few others afterwards arrived in
twos and threes ; all the rest had either perished or
dropped behind from fatigue, sickness, or wounds.
How it fared with South Munster after the capture of
Dunboy may now be told in a few words.
When setting out from Glengarriff, O'Sullivan left in the
deserted camp some weak women and little children, with
a number of wounded and sick people who could not be
moved, thinking probably that their infirmity would be a
sufficient protection. But in this he miscalculated. The
women and children were able to escape in time ; but
Wilmot had all the wounded men massacred on the spot : —
* Next morning,' says Carew, ' Sir Charles [Wilmot]
coming to seeke the enemy in their campe, hee icntered into
their quarter without resistance, where he found nothing
but hurt and sicke men, whose pains and lives by the
soldiers were both determined.' ^
Though Munster was now quiet enough, yet several of
the rebels were still at large, and there were rumours of
other intended risings. Against these dangers Carew took
precautions of a very decided character. Twenty years
before, the province had been almost depopulated by war
and artificial famine : now the same dreadful work was
repeated, though on a smaller scale: the country was
* This old couple, who survived the hardships of th^ journey, were
then seventy years old. Their son Philip O'Sullivan Beare afterwards
wrote in Latin a book called Historite Catholicce Iherjlia Compendium,
a compendium of the History of the Irish Catholics, frbm which, and
from the Fmir Masters, the account in this chapter is chiefly taken.
« Pac. Bib. p. 659.
538 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Past IV.
turned into a desert : — ' Heereupon Sir Charles [Wilmot]
with the English regiments overran all Beare and Bantry,
destroying all that they could find meet for the reliefe oif
men, so as that country was wholly wasted. . . . The
president therefore, as well to debarre those straglers from
releefe as to prevent all means of succours to Osulevan
if hee should retume with new forces, caused all the
county of Kerry and Desmond, Beare, Bantry, and Carbery
to be left absolutely wasted, constrayning all the Inhabi-
tants thereof to withdraw their Cattle into the East and
Northern parts of the County of Corke.* *
CHAPTER XVII
THE FLIGHT OF THE EARLS
From the autumn of 1600 to the end of 1602 the work
of destroying crops, cattle, and homesteads was busily
carried on by Mountjoy and Carew, and by the governors
of the garrisons, who wasted everything and made deserts
for miles round the towns where they were stationed.
We have already seen how thoroughly this was done in
Munster and Leinster(pp. 459, 513, 516) : it was now the
turn of Ulster. In June 1602 Mountjoy himself marched
north to prosecute the rebels, and' remained in Ulster
during the autumn and winter, traversing the country in
all directions, and destroying the poor people's means of
subsistence.
And now the famine so deliberately planned swept
through the whole country, and Ulster was, if possible,
in a worse condition than Munster. For the ghastly results
of the deputy's cruel policy we have his own testimony,
as well as that of his secretary the historian Moryson.
Here is Mountjoy's description of what he found on his
arrival in Ulster (written 29th July 1602) : — ' We have
seen no one man in all Tyrone of late but dead carcases
merely hunger starved, of which we found divers as we
> Pac. Mb. pp. 659, 680.
Chap. XVn. THE FLIGHT OF THE EARLS 539
passed.' And again : ' O'Hagan protested that between
Tullaghoge and Toome [seventeen miles] there lay un-
buried 1,000 dead, and that since our first drawing this
year to Blackwater there were about 3,0Q0 starved in
Tyrone.' * But this did not satisfy him ; for soon after
we find him invoking the Almighty to aid. him in com-
pleting this horrible work : — ' To-morrow (by the grace
of God) I am going into the field, as near as I can utterly
to waste the county Tyrone.' * j
Next hear Moryson.^ ' Now because I have often
made mention formerly of our destroying th^rebels' com,
and using all means to famish them, let me^y one or two
examples show the miserable estate to which the rebels
were thereby brought.' He then gives Some hideous
details, which show, if indeed showing were needed, that
the women and children were famished as well as the
actual rebels. And he goes on to say : — ' And no spectacle
was more frequent in the ditches of townfe than to see
multitudes of these poor people dead with their mouths
all coloured green by eating nettles, docks, and all things
they could rend up above ground.'
It will be remembered that after the battle of Kinsale
O'Neill and Rory O'Donnell made good their retreat to
the north. But O'Neill was not able to make any head-
way against Mountjoy and Docwra, both of whom con-
tinued to plant garrisons all through the province. With
the few followers that remained to him, he retired into
impenetrable fastnesses ; and far from taking active
measures, he had quite enough to ^o to preserve himself
and his party from utter destruction. But he refused to
submit, still clinging to the hope of help from abroad.
About the 10th August 1602 Mountjoy collected a
force of 8,000 men to proceed against him. He first took
possession of Dungannon, which on his approach O'Neill
had abandoned and burned ; and from this he proceeded
to attack the strong fort of Inisloughlin, in which O'Neill
and the other chief men of the country had for safety de-
* Carem Papers, 1601-1603, p. 287. '
• Moryson, ii. 191. » Ibid. 283.
640 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATIDljr, PLANTATION Paet IV.
posited all their plate and other valuables. It was situated
in the middle of a great bog in the south of Antrim, near
the village of Moira in Down ; and on the first appearance
of the English army the little garrison of sixty-two sur-
rendered, and Mountjoy brought away all the treasure.
He then returned to Dungannon, still burning and destroy-
ing, and having fortified the town, he left it in charge of
a garrison. In his destructive progress through the
country he came to Tullaghoge, which for many centuries
had been the inauguration place of the O'Neills; 'and
there he spoiled the corn of all the country, and Tyrone's
own corn, and brake down the chair wherein the O'Neills
were wont to be created [princes of Tyrone], being of stone
planted in the open field.' '
At this time O'Neill was in the great fastness of
Glenconkeine in the south of the county Londonderry, a
little to the north-west of Lough Neagh, with all that
remained of his army — 600 foot and 50 horse. Mountjoy
attempted to follow him, but was not able to get nearer
than twelve miles. So leaving Sir Henry Docwra and
Sir Arthur Chichester there with instructions to ' clear
the county of Tyrone of all inhabitants, and to spoil all
the com which he could not preserve for the garrison,' he
returned to Dublin.
The news of the death of Jled Hugh O'Donnell, which
came while O'Neill was in Glenconkeine, crushed the last
hopes of the chiefs; and Rory O'Donnell and O'Conor
Sligo submitted in December, and were gladly and favour-
ably received. O'NeiH himself, even in his fallen state,
was still greatly dreaded ; for the government were now,
as they had been for years, haunted by the apprehension
of another and more powerful armament from Spain.
They well knew that on the slightest encouragement the
whole population, Anglo-Irish as well as native, would
rise in revolt. Carew writes : [In case the Spaniards
should land] ' the loss of one field or one day's disaster
would absolutely lose the kingdom.'* The authorities
' Moryson, ii. 197.
* Carew Papers, 1621-1603, p. 305 : written 11th August 1602.
Chap. XVII. THE FLIGHT OF THE EARLS ! 641
were heartily sick of this war, and Mountjoy was most
anxious to receive O'Neill; but the queen, now sickly,
old, and cross-tempered, was so exasperated against him
that it was with the greatest difficulty she was persuaded
to consent. At length she empowered Mountjoy to offer
him life, liberty, and pardon, with title and territory.
The sort of enemy Tyrone had to deal with may be
gathered from Mountjoy's own words, written after he
had got authority to receive the submission. 'I have
omitted nothing, both by Power and Policy, to ruin him
and utterly to cut him off, and if by either I may procure
his Head, before I have engaged her royal Word for his
Safety, I do protest I will do it, and much more be ready
to possess myself of his person, if by only Promise of Life, •
or by any other Means whereby I shall not directly scandal
the Majesty of public Faith, I can procure him to put
himself into my power.' * O'Neill however knew the
man thoroughly, and was too watchful for the assassins
and too wary to be caught in any trap, however skilfully
laid. At length Sir Garrett Moore of Mellifont, O'Neill's
old friend, was commissioned to treat with hinfi ; and riding
north to O'Neill's camp with Sir William Godolphin, he
conducted him back to Mellifont.
While the negotiations were going on here, Mountjoy
received private intelligence that the queen "^had died on
the 24th March 1603. Keeping the news strictly secret,
he hurried on the arrangements. On the 30th of March
at Mellifont the chief made his submission t6 the deputy
in the usual form. On his knees, after the fashion of the
time, he acknowledged his offences, supplicated the queen's
pardon, renounced the title of O'Neill, abjured all foreign
power, and promised to serve the crown in future with all
his ability. He received full pardon for himself and his
followers, and was to be restored to his titles and lands,
except certain small portions reserved by the government.
The deputy, accompanied by O'Neill, now rode to
Dublin. The day after their arrival the queen's death was
publicly announced; and it was observed that when
> Moryson, ii. 293.
/
5 12 mSURKEClION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pakt IV.
O'Neill heard of it he shed tears. He said himself it was
nothing more than sorrow for the queen ; but many be-
lieved that his tears were caused by regret that he had
not delayed his submission a few days longer, when he
might have forced better terms from the new sovereign.
James I. of England, who had been James VI. of
Scotland, was the first English king who was universally
acknowledged by the Irish as their lawful sovereign ; and
they accepted him partly because he was descended in one
line from their own ancient Milesian kings, and partly
because they believed that though outwardly a Protestant
he was at heart a Catholic.
There was now a very general belief in Ireland that
the Catholic religion would be restored, as it was on the
accession of Mary. The citizens of Cork, Waterford,
Wexford, Kilkenny, and Limerick forced their way into
the churches — their own churches, which only a few years
before had been taken from them ; and they^restored the
altars and had Mass openly celebrated.
But they were soon made sensible of their mistake.
Mountjoy, when he heard of their proceedings, marched
south in May (1603) with a formidable army ; and when
the citizens of Waterford shut their gates on him, he sent
them word that if he had to enter by force he would raze
the city and strew salt upon the site. Whereupon they
admitted him ; and forthwith he suppressed the Catholic
worship and restored the churches to the English ministers.
Cork in like manner submitted, and all the other towns
followed.
This disturbance was not a remnant of the late insur-
rection, with which it had no connection ; for the inhabitants
of those towns were then chiefly English or of English
descent, and were thoroughly loyal. But they were all
Homan Catholics ; and their action was merely a struggle
for liberty to exercise their religion : it was the beginning
of an agitation which continued from that time to a period
within our own memory.
Niall Garve O'Donnell, almost from the hour he joined
the government, had given great trouble. He had done
Chap. XVH. THE FLIGHT OF THE EAELS ^^ 643
the English good service ; but he was grasping, quarrel-
some, and unmanageable ; and nothing that was done for
him pleased him. He was now enraged at the favour
shown to his rival Eory O'Donnell ; and while Mountjoy
was in Munster, he rose in open rebellion and had himself
proclaimed The O'Donnell. But he was easily defeated by
Docwra and taken prisoner, though not dealt with severely ;
and in the end he had to content himself with the posses-
sion of his own patrimonial estates, and nothing more.
Deputy Mountjoy now petitioned to be allowed to retire
from the government of Ireland. Whereupon the king
conferred on him the higher title of lord lieutenant, with
permission to reside in England. He forthwith sailed for
London, accompanied by O'Neill, Rory O'Donnell, and
others. The king received the Irish chiefs kindly and
graciously ; confirmed O'Neill in the title of earl of Tyrone ;
made Rory O'Donnell earl of Tirconnell ; and restored
both to most of their possessions and privilegos.
Although the war was now ended, yet the country was
in a very unsettled state; for there were everywhere
numbers of people that had taken part in the rebellion,
who now lived in a continual state of apprehension. In
order to put an end to this state of things, the l^ing caused
to be proclaimed ' an Act of Oblivion and Indemnity,' by
which all oflfences heretofore committed against the crown
were forgiven, never to be revived : a merciful act which
would not have been entertained in the preceding reign.
When Mountjoy sailed for England he left as his deputy
Sir George Carey, treasurer at war (also called Carew, but
to be distinguished from Sir George Carew of the pre-
ceding chapters). During Carey's short administration —
from June 1603 to February 1604 — English law was esta-
blished in Tyrone and Tirconnell, and sheriffs and judges
were sent for the first time into these two districts. The
first judges were Sir Edward Pelham and Sir John Davies :
the latter the author of the valuable treatise on Ireland,
already so often quoted in these pages.
A little later (in 1605), during the administration of
Sir Arthur Chichester, who became lord deputy in 1604,
544 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Pabt IV.
tanistry and gavelkind (pp. 84, 85) were abolished, and
the inheritance of land was made subject to English law.
The extension of English law to all Ireland, which was
accomplished a little later on, placed all the people for
the first time under government protec^n. This mea-
sure had often been sought by the Irish, and persistently
refused ; and full credit for the concession should be ac-
corded to King James I. But its sudden application to
the tenure of land was harsh, and was attended with
great injustice. By the abolition of tanistry probably
no one seriously suffered ; but the case was different with
gavelkind. When this was declared illegal, all those
who happened at the time to be in possessipn became the
legal owners ; and no account was taken of the numerous
junior members of the septs who had a right to their
portions in subsequent distributions. These were all de-
prived of their inheritance to enrich the actual possessors,
and were turned out on the world without any provision :
as great an injustice as if the tenants of the present day
were suddenly made absolute owners of their farms, and
the landlords and mortgage holders sent adrift without
compensation. Sir Henry Maine ^ strongly condemns the
sudden introduction of tins measure, and complains of the
injustice done to a number of children all through the
country for the advantage of individuals. A just and
thoughtful legislator would have proArided for compensation,
or would have made the act prospective, so as to avoid
wronging any living member of the community.
Notwithstanding that the earl of Tyrone had been re-
ceived so graciously by the king, and was now settled
down quietly as an English subject, yet he was looked
upon with suspicion and hatred by the officials and ad-
venturers, who could not endure to see him restored to
rank and favour. Those who had looked forward to the
forfeiture of his estates and to the confiscation of Ulster
were bitterly disappointed when they found themselves
baulked of their expected prey, and they determined to
bring about his ruin. He was now constantly subjected
' Ana. Iiutitutiom, p. 206.
Chap. XVH. THE FLIGHT OF THE EAEU8 545
to annoyance and humiliation, and beset with spies who
reported the most trivial incidents of his^ everyday life.
Montgomery the Protestant bishop of Derry and OCahan
one of O'Neill's sub-chiefs harassed him with litigation
about some of his lands ; and when the case^ came to be
tried in the council chamber, the lawyers decided that
neither O'Neill nor O'Cahan had any title at all accordign
to English law : a decision in direct violation of the king s
order restoring the earl all his lands. At the same time
the earl of Tirconnell was persecuted almost as systemati-
cally.
At last matters reached a crisis. There had been
rumours of a conspiracy for another rebellion ; and now
(1607) an anonymous letter addressed to the clerk of the
privy council was dropped at the chamber door, which
spoke of a design to murder the deputy Chichester and
other officials, and to seize the castle of Dublin ; and of a
general revolt which was to be assisted by a Spanish army.
No conspirators were named in the letter, but the earls of
Tyrone and Tirconnell, the young baron of Delvin, and
others, were freely talked of. It was stated that they held
their meetings at the castle of Maynooth, belonging to the
dowager countess of Kildare, though the Kildare family
knew nothing of what was going on.
This letter — ' a rambling and absurd document,' as
Richey calls it — was concocted by Christopher St. Laurence
baron of Howth, a man wholly devoid of honour or principle,
who had served against the Irish under Lord Mountjoy :
but probably he was in collusion with others. Even the
government officials distrusted him ; and Chichester, in a
letter to the earl of Salisbury, speaks of him in the most
contemptuous terms : — ' I find him so wavering and uncer-
tain that I am enforced to hold him to particulars. ... I
like not his look and . gesture when he talks to me of this
business.' * In some short time afterwards St. Laurence
brought charges of disloyalty and treason against Sir
Garrett Moore of Mellifont, O^Neill's old friend, which
Moore easily proved before the king and couneil to be all
» GUbert, Account of Nat. MSB. 284. >,^.
' ' N N
546 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Part IV.
false. Although the government obviously disbelieved
St. Laurence, yet he afterwards managed to obtain consi-
derable grants from the crown.
The whole story of the conspiracy was an invention
without the least foundation ; yet rambling and absurd as
St. Laurence's statement was it led to very important
consequences ; for in a short time the whole country was
startled by the news that the two earls of Tyrone and
Tirconnell had secretly fled from Ireland.
Tyrone had been on a visit at Slane with the deputy
Chichester, intending to proceed to England, when he heard
of the matter ; and at the same time both he and Tirconnell
were assured that it was intended to arrest them. ' There
is no reason to believe that he was engaged in any con-
spiracy ; but he was utterly disgusted with his position,
irritated with the annoyances he was continually subjected
to, and must have foreseen that it was impossible for him
to live in Ireland as an English subject, and that sooner or
later he should be forced into rebellion or accused of
treason.' * Keeping his mind to himself, he took leave of
the deputy and went to Sir Garrett Moore of Mellifont,
where he remained for a few days. On a Sunday morning
he and his attendants took horse for Dundalk. He knew
that he was bidding his old friend farewell for the last
time ; and Sir Garrett, who suspected nothing, was surprised
to observe that he was unusually moved, blessing each
member of the household individually and weeping bitterly
at parting. They rode on in haste till they reached Rath-
muUan on the western shore of Lough S willy, where a
ship that had been purchased by O'Ruarc awaited them.
Here he was joined by the earl of Tircoi^ell and his
family.
Tyrone had with him his wife and children ; while with
Tirconnell went his son a child of a year old, his sister
Nuala wife of the traitor Niall Garve, and his brother
Cathbarr : the countess, being from home, was left behind
in the haste of flight. There were several other relatives
of both earls ; and the total number of exiles taking ship
» Richey, ShoH Hist. 597.
Chap.xvil the flight of the eaels 547
was about one hundred. At midnight on the 14th of
September they embarked, and bidding farewell for ever
to their native country, they made for the open sea. After
a long, stormy, and perilous voyage, they landed in France,
where they were received with great distinction by all,
from the king downwards. From France the earls and
their families proceeded by leisurely stages to Rome, where
they took up their residence, being allowed ample pensions
by the Pope and the king of Spain. O'Donnell died in
the following year, 1608 ; and O'Neill, aged, blind, and
worn by misfortune and disappointment, died in 1616.
His son Henry was mysteriously murdered in Brussels in
1617 ; at whose death that branch of the family became
extinct.' I
Let us conclude the tale of the flight of the earls
by quoting Dr. Richey's weighty and well-considered
words : ^ — ' The extreme impolicy of the English govern-
ment throughout these transactions is remarkable. If,
instead of being harassed and insulted by English bishops
and garrisons, he had been firankly and loyally dealt with,
his services [in maintaining order in Ulster] acknowledged,
and his hands strengthened for good, instead of an Ulster
reformed by a Scotch and English plantation, we might
have an Ulster as thriving and cultivated, but inhabited
by the descendants of its original possessors ; and the
rising of 1641 and all its consequences might have been
spared this country. But the hatred and suspicion of all
that was Irish, the desire to utilise the country for the
benefit of the English, and the greed for grants of lands
and forfeited estates, in this as on many other occasions
influenced the conduct of the government, the miserable
results of which form the staple of our subsequent history.*
For some time after the suppression of the great re-
bellion there was profound quiet, till it was suddenly
broken by the hasty and reckless rising of Sir Cahir
• For all details of the flight of the earls, the reader is referred to
the Rev. C. P. Meehan's valuable work The Fate a/nd fortunes of the
Earls of Tyrone amd TyrooimelU
» Short Hist. 597.
« N 2
548 INSURRECTION, CONFISCATION, PLANTATION Part IV.
O'Doherty. This chief, then only twenty-one years of age,
had hitherto been altogether on the side of the English :
he had fought with Sir Henry Docwra against O'Neill
and was knighted for his bravery. He was the queen's
O'Doherty, appointed by the government in opposition to
his uncle, who had been inaugurated by the earl of Tyrone ;
and his rebellion was a mere outburst of private revenge,
having nothing noble or patriotic about it.
On one occasion, in 1608, he had an altercation with
Sir George Paulett governor of Deny, who being a man
of ill-temper, struck him in the face. O'Doherty, restrain-
ing himself for the time, retired ; and under the advice of
his foster-brothers the Mac Devitts, and of Niall Garve
O'Donnell, he concerted his measures for vengeance. He
invited his friend captain Harte the governor of Culmore
fort and his wife to dinner. After dinner the governor
was treacherously seized by O'Doherty's orders, and
threatened with instant death — himself and his wife and
child — if he did not surrender the fort. Harte firmly re-
fused ; but his wife, in her terror and despair, went to the
fort and prevailed on the guards to open the gates.
O'Doherty and his men rushed in, expelled the soldiers of
the garrison, and immediately took possession ; and having
supplied himself with artillery and ammunition from the
fort, he marched on Deny that same night. He took
it by surprise, slew Paulett, slaughtered the garrison, and
sacked and burned the town. He was joined by several
neighbouring chiefs, and held out from May to Juljf 1608,
when he was shot dead near Kilmacrenan in a skirmish
with Marshal Wingfield. The rising then collapsed as
suddenly as it had begun. Some of those implicated were
executed, and others were sent to the Tower of London,
among whom were Niall Garve O'Donnell and his son, who
were kept there in confinement for the rest of their days.
INDEX
ABSENTEEISM, 322, 323, 353,
378
Acby Ainkenn, king of Leinster,
130, 131
Achy Feidlech, king of Ireland,
129
Act of Oblivion and Indemnity,
543
Adamnan, St., 23, 45, 154, 159, 171,
186
Adamnan's Law, 186
Adare, 455, 500
Adrian IV., Pope, 246, 247, 248,
300, 301
Aed AUen, 154
Aed Finnliath, 195
Aed, son of Ainmire, 151
Aed Ordnighe, 161, 190, 192
Aedan, king of Scotland, 152
Aengus the Culdee, 7, 15, 24, 25,
161, 164, 165, 187, 188
Aengus Mac Natfree, 149, 173
Aer, a satire, 120
AfEane, near Cappoqnin, 420
Aghaboe, 91, 180, 187, 242
Aghabulloge in Cork, 9
Aherlow, 429, 430, 431, 468, 534
Aidan or Maidoc, St., of Ferns,
183
Aidan of Lindisfame, 166
Ailbe, St., of Emly, 173, 175
Ailech or Greenan-Elly, near
Derry, 111,232
Aire, a chief, 55, 56, 57, li09
Albinus and Clement, 188
Alcuin, 165
Aldfnd, 164
Allen, Dr., 446, 448, 449
— John, archbishop of Dublinj
365, 366, 370
— John, Master of the Rolls, 366,
367
— Hill of, near Kildare, 37, 154
Amergin, 127,128
AmlaflE or Olaf Cuaran, 198, 199,
207, 210
AmlaS, son of the king of Loch-
lann, 215
Angus, son of Ere, 1^, 151
Annadown, 177
Anrad the Dane, 222ii
Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury,
233 M,
Antiphonary of Bang(Sr, 27, 181
Antrim, 111, 276, 440
Apostles, the Twelve, of Erin, 176
Aran Island, 163
Archer, Father James, 516
Ardagh in Longford, 173
Limerick, 106, l07
Ardbraccan, 242, 413
Ardee, 198, 230, 237, 302, 303, 307
Ardes in Down, the p^insula east
of Strangford Lough, 440
Ardfert in Kerry, 177
Ardfinnan, 280 i
Ardmore, 174 . |
Ardnaree, near Ballina, 464
Ardpatrick, 235, 534
Ard-ri of Ireland, 60, 66
ArdscuU Moat, near Athy, 304
Argobast, 188
Argryle, earl and countess of, 407
Arklow, 501 X
650
HISTORY OF IRELAND
Armagh, 149, 163, 165, 172, 192
209, 226, 232, 237, 238, 239, 242,
257, 278, 402, 407, 409, 414, 471,
485, 486, 488, 490, 494, 496, 497
Arms and armour, 114
Amulf de Montgomery, 233
Artaine, near Dublin, 370
Askeaton, 449, 452, 497, 500, 511
Assaroe, 124, 193, 209, 232, 491
Assassination of Irish chiefs, 528
note
Athenry, 304, 305, 353, 354
Athleague, on the Shannon, 277, 285
Athlone, 23o, 290, 312, 313, 355,
380, 395, 428, 487
Athy in Kildare, 226, 355
Attacots, ] 30
Aughrim in Galway, 535
Augustine, St., 167, 170
BAGENAL, Sir Henry, 476, 477,
480, 481, 485, 494, 49o, 496
— Mabel, Hugh O'NeiU's wife,
476, 477
— Sir Nicholas, 462
Eagot Rath, near Dublin, 336
Ballaclinch Ford, 504
Ballagbmoon in Carlow, 196
£alleeghan in Donegal, 402
Ballina, 291
Ballinacor in Glenmalure, 482
Ballinasloe, 236
Ballintober Abbey, 114
Ballybough Bridge, near Dublin,
217, 220
Bellyboyle Castle, 472
Ballyculhane in Limerick, 455
Ballygorry, 324
Bally-mac-Egan, 15
Bally mote, 15, P02, 622
Ballyragget, 515
l^Uyt'adare, 274
Ballyshannon in Donegal, 124, 139,
209, 359, 471, 472, 489, 490, 499
— in Eildare, near Eilcnllen, 154
Ballyroumey in Cork, 534
Baltimore, 523, 626, 528
Bangor, 27, 163, 180, 181, 182, 191
Bann, the river, 191, 275, 303, 416
Bannow harbour, 251
Bantry in Cork, 630, 532, 52«
Bards, 120
Barnaderg or Redchair, 204, 205
Barnesmore Gap, 209, 359, 360
Bamewell, Lord Trimblestone's
son, 489, 492
Barnwell, Sir Christopher, 424
Barra Island in Scotland, 183
Barri, Robert de, 252
Barry, David, lord justice, 296
— John, 534
Barrys, the, 310, 450
Basilea, Raymond's wife, 266, 268
Battle Bridge, 490
Beare, barony of, 632, 638
Beare Island, 529, 630
Bective Abbey in Meath, 114
Bede, the Venerable, 26, 34, 132,
142, 165, 166
Begerin, 164, 173, 191, 260
Belfast, 100, 355, 401
Belgooly, near Kinsale, 524
Beliahoe Lake, 381
Bellanaboy orthe Yellow Ford, 494
Bellanabriska, 479
Belle Isle, 28, 29
Belleek, 478
Bellingham, Sir Edward, 399, 436
Bells, 98
Benburb, 413
Benen or Benignus, St., 41, 43, 172
Berach, St., 138
Berchan, St., see Movi
Bermingham, Richard, 304
— Sir John, 95, 306, 307, 310
— Sir William, 311
Billings, Captain, 495
Bingham, Sir Richard, 454, 460,
462, 463, 464, 479, 484, 488
Birr or Parsonstown, 178, 242, 366
Bishops, 168
Bissets, the, 301
Blacar the Dane, 198
Black death, the, 316
— rents, 313, 323, 324, 325, 340
note, 351, 363, 366, 378, 380
Blackwater river in Ulster, 474,
485, 486, 489, 490, 520
Blackwatertown in Armagh, 474
Blake, James, 527
Blathmac, 163, 184
Boats, 1 1 7
Bobbio in Italy, 181, 182, 183
INDEX
551
Boniface, 187
Book of Acaill, 41, 46
Armagh, 3, 21, 105, 140, 144
note
Ballymote, 4, 5, 8, 15, 156
Carrick, 341
Common Prayer, 396
Dimma, 20, 21
Duniry, or Speckled Book, 4,
15
Durrow, 105, 280
Fermoy, 17
Genealogies, 33
Hy Many, 17, 221 note
Hymns, 25
Invasions, 16, 30
Kells, 18, 104
Lecan, 5
, the Yellow, 16
Leinster, 4, 14, 35, 141, 258
Lismore, 17, 38
Eights, 7, 43, 65, 114, 172
St. Moling, 21
the Dun Cow, 3, 4, 14
Ollaves, 156
Booley, Booleying, 69, 319
Borough, Lord, 489, 490, 493
Boru or Boruma, tribute, 15, 32,
131, 135, 153, 154, 186
Boyle in Roscommon, 502
Bragganstown near Ardee, 310
Brandon Mountain in Kerry, 177
Branduff, 152, 183
Brefney (Brefney O'Ruarc, the co.
Leitrim : Brefney O'Reilly, the
CO. Cavan), 212, 246, 406 "
Breganz in Switzerland, 183
Bregia, the plain from Dublin to
the Boyne, 172, 197
Brehon Laws, part i. chaps, vi.
vii. viii. ix. x. ; and pp. 5, 7, 66,
161, 168, 296, 297, 319, 391
Brendan, St., of Birr, 176, 178
'The Navigator,' 176, 177,
178
Brereton, Sir William, 383
Breuil in France, 188
Brian Boru, part ii. chaps, viii.
and ix. ; also pp. 22, 65, 66, 118,
199, 234, 333
Bricin, St., 158
Brigit, St., of Kildare, 23, 174
Bristol, 79, 248. 263, 286
Britan Mail, 125
Broder, 213, 214, 215, 216, 224
Brooke, Sir Calisthenes, 495, 497
Brown, George, archbishop 377,
386, 395
Bruce, Edward, part iii. chap.
xi. ; also pp. 289, 309
— Robert, king of Scotland, 301,
305, 306
Brace's castle in Rathlin, 443
Brugaid or Brugh-fer, 57, 117
Brunehild, 182
Bruree in Limerick, 204, 206
Bryan, Francis, 435
Buannach or Bonaght, 75
Buite or Boetius, St., 186
Bull of Pope Adrian IV., 247, 248,
300, 301 ;
Bunratty in Clare, 296, 313
Bunting, Edward, 98, 99, 100
Burial, modes of, 119
Barke, Edmund, 464
— Mac David. 53^
— Mac William of Clanrickard,
353, 354, 359, 38t
— Redmond, 494, ,497
— Richard, 463
— Theobald-na-long, 502, 504, 510
— William of Castleconnell, 447,
448
— see De Burgo and De Burgos
Butler, Edmond Mac Richard, 341
— Sir Edmond, 424, 426, 427, 428,
429
— Sir Edmund, lord justice, 302,
303, 304
— Sir Edward, 426,^427, 428
— James, first earl of Ormond, 310
— James, 371
— Sir James, 346
— Sir John, earl of Ormond, 341
— Sir Pierce, 426, 428
Butlers, the, 270, 335, 339, 341,
344, 348, 356, 365, 420
OAHAL CARRACH, 275, 276,
282, 283, 284
— Crovderg, king of Connaught,
part iii. chap. viii. ; also pp.
275, 288, 290
IT
552
HISTORY OF IRELAND
Cahal, king of Delvin, 202
Caher, a fort, 110
— in Tipperary, 500, 501
Caherconree Mountain, 36
Cain Patrick, or Patrick's Law, 41
Cairn, a monumental mound, 120
Caimech, St., 41
Calendars, 24
Callaghan, king of Munster, 198
Callan in Kilkenny, 332
— near Kenmare, 294
Camin, St., 185
Campus Albus, synod of, 171
Canice, St., of Aghaboe, 176, 180,
181
Cannera, St., 178
Canoin Patrick, 22
Cape Clear Island, 175
Capital punishment, 53
Carbery in Cork, 538
— Kinncat, 64, 130
— of the Liffey, 133
— Riada, 132, 150
Carbury in Kildare, 194, 206, 212,
343
Carew, Sir Greorge, part iv. chap,
xiii. ; also pp. 327 Twte, 453,
506, 522, 525, 526, 527, 529, 530,
531, 532, 533, 537. 538, 540, 543
— Sir Peter (the elder), 425, 426
(the younger), 453, 454, 508
Carey or Carew, Sir George, 543
Carlingford, 192, 195, 251, 614,
519
Carlow, 332, 348, 439
Carlus, son of Amlaff, 195
Carman or Wexford, 89, 91
Carolan the harper, 96, 100
Carrick Casile, 254. 259
Carrickfergus, 303, 305, 312, 355,
418, 443, 513
Carrigafoyle, 449, 451, 610
Carrigcleena, 140
Carrigogunnell, 379, 380
Carrthach or Mochuda, St., 184
Carter, Arthur, 447
Cashel, 112, 114, 148, 163, 173,
181, 193, 202, 232, 238, 239, 247,
262,268,458,506,522
Castide, 116
Castleconnell, 354
Castledermot, 196. 332
Castlehaven, 523, 526, 528
Castlekevin, 468
Castleknock, 260, 305
Castle Lishen, 510
Castle maine, 430, 431, 498
Castlemartyr, 427
Castletown Moat near Dimdalk, 36
Cataldus of Tarentum, 188
Cathach or Battle-book,, the, 19
Cavan, 183, 483
Cecil the English minister, 409,
410, 508, 511
Celestine, Pope, 142, 144
Celestius, 11
Celsus, St., archbishop, 235, 238,
247
Cemeteries, games at, 89
Chariots, 117
Charlemagne, 105, 166, 188
Charles the Bald, 194, 195
— V. the emperor, 371
Charters o^ denization, 298
Chess, 121
Chichester, Sir Arthur, 640, 643,
545, 546
Churches, 111, 113
Cianan, St., 173
Ciaran, St., of Clonmacnoise, 176,
178, 181
of Ossory, 175, 176
Cimbaeth, 28, 29
Clancarty, earl of, 416, 426, 429
Clandeboy, 441, 442
Clanrickard, earls of, 270, 312, 405,
408, 430, 432, 433, 434, 517, 522,
525
Cleena, the fairy queen, 140, 210
Cleenish in Lough Erne, 176
Clement and Albinus, 188
Clifford, Sir Conyers, 488, 489, 490,
491, 502, 503, 504
Clogher, 18, 185
Clogrennan Castle, 427
Clonard, 163, 164, 175, 176, 178,
242
Clondalkin, 242, 256
Clonenagh, 25, 180, 187, 188, 242
Clones, 18, 242
Clonfert, 164, 177, 242
Clonmacnoise, 163, 165, 176, 192,
237, 242, 395
Clonmel, 356 .
INDEX
553
Clontarf, part ii. chap, ix ; also
pp. 250, 370
Clontibret, 483
Cloonoan Castle, 463
Cloyne, 181, 191
Coarb or Comorba, 169
Colcu the Wise, 165
Coleraine, 289
CoUas, the Three, 133
Collins, Dominick, 531
CoUooney Castle, 502
Colman, St., of Cloyne, 181
— of Lindisfarne, 165, 166, 171
Columba or Columkille, St., 12,
14, 19, 20, 23, 26, 121, 151, 152,
155, 170, 176, 178, 179, 180, 181,
186, 190, 271, 272
— St., of Terryglass, 176
Columbanas, St., 170, 181, 182,
183
Comgall, St., o£ Bangor, 180, 181,
182, 184, 191
Comyn, John, archbishop, 278
Conall Gulban, 147, 179, 401 note
Conary I., 14, 130
— II., 132
Coneys, Captain, 495
Confession of St. Patrick, 21, 143
Cong in Mayo, 225, 281
Congal Claen, 153
Congalach, 198
Conmach, primate, 190
Conn Ced-cathach, 131
Connor, near Ballymena, 303
Conor, king of Ireland, 191, 192
Conor Mac Nessa, 36, 130
Conor Mainmoy, 274, 282
Conwell, Captain, 472
Coolbanagher, 24
Core, king of Munster, 41
Corcran the Cleric, 229
Cork, 163, 183, 191, 204, 251, 265,
278, 336, 346, 375, 426, 428, 432,
452, 522, 528, 529, 538, 542
Cormac Cas, 203
Cormac Mac Art, 11, 30, 38, 46,
118, 132, 158
— Mac CuUenan, 4, 13, 196
Connac's chaj^el at Cashel, 112
— Glossary, 4, 139
Cormacan, Eges, the poet, 198
Coronation stones, 62, 64, 126
Cosby, Colonel,. 495, 496
— Francis, 453
Counties formed, 288, 436
Cowley, Robert, 383
Coyne and livery, 78, 297, 310,
317, 319, 320,334, 337, 349, 360,
366
Craglea near Killaloe, 140, 224
Crawford, Captain, 490
Credran-Kill, 293
Croagh Patrick Mountain, 148
Croft, Sir James, 400, 401
Croghan, palace of, 36, 37, 89, 129,
147, 148
Cro-Inshain Lough Ennell, 227
Crom Cruacb, the idol, 129, 141,
147
Cromer, George, archbishop, 365,
369, 377
Crook, near Waterford, 261, 287
Crosses, 106, 107, 108
Crumlin, near Dublin, 482
Cuan O'Lochan, 229
Cuchullain, 36, 37
Culdees, 169
Culdremne, battle of, 20, 151
Cullenswood, near Dublin, 286
Culmore Fort, 614, 548
Culuan Ford, 478, 490, 491
Cammian of lona, 170, 171
Curlieu Hills, 209, 274, 502, 536
Cashendun in Antrim, 418
Cuthbert, St., 166
DAGOBERT, king of France,
164 ;^
Dalaradia, including the co. Down
and the south half of AntHm,
180, 273
Dalcassians, 140; 193, 200, 201,
202, 203. 206, a)9, 216, 218, 223,
224
Dalian Forgaill, 14, 121, 155, 158
Dalriada, the north half of An-
trim : that part lying north of
the Glenravel river, 132, 150,
151,152,184
Danes, ravages 6f, part ii. chap,
vii. ; and p. 241
D'Arcy, Sir John, 311, 312, 313
Darinis, 242
554
HISTORY OF IRELAND
Dathi, 89, 135, 138
Davells, Sir Henry, 447, 449
Davers, Sir Henry, 520
Davies, Sir John, 64, 78, 82, 85,
111, 248, 244, 264,288, 299 notes,
320, 826, 898, 507, 543
De Barri, Robert, 252
De Braose, Philip, 277, 278, 287
De Burgo, the Red Earl, 302, 303,
312
— Richard, 286, 290, 291, 292
— Sir Edmund Albanach, 312
— Sir Ulick, 312
— Sir William, viceroy, 313
— William, the Brown Earl, 312,
315, 317
De Burgos or Burkes, 269, 270,
295, 312, 313, 315, 405, 430, 463
Decies in Waterford, 174, 176, 254,
420, 501
Declan, St., of Ardmore, 174, 176
De Clare, Richard, 305
see Strongbow
— Thomas, 295, 296
De Cogan, Miles, 255, 256, 257,
258, 259, 260, 267, 269, 277, 278
— Richard, 258, 259
De Courcy, John, part lii. chap,
vi. ; and pp. 263, 269, 280, 282,
283, 287
— Miles, baron of Kinsale, 276
De Cukagh, Sir Robert, 307
Dedannans, the, 125, 126, 127, 130,
139, 140
Degenerate English, 309, 317, 350
De Grey, John, 288
De Lacy, Hugh, the elder, part iii.
chap. vii. ; and pp. 261, 262, 263,
264, 277, 278, 280, 281
— Hugh, the younger, 274, 275,
276, 282, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289,
290
— Walter, 287, 288, 307
De Lacys, the, 285, 301, 303
Del Aguila, Don Juan, 521, 622,
524, 525, 626, 528, 529
Delvin, baron of ; see Nugent
De Mandeville, Richard, 312
De Quenci, Strongbow's son-in-
law, 264
Deimot, son of Fergus, 19, 20, 92,
151, 176
Derry or Londonderry, 179, 234,
242, 276, 417, 514, 518, 648
Derrypatrick, 271
Dervorgilla, 245, 246
Desmond or South Munster, 61,
202, 203, 234, 235, 268, 269, 284,
421
— the Great Earl of, 334, 341, 342,
343, 344, 385
— the Rebel Earl of, 420. 421, 422,
423, 424, 431, 432,^46, 447, 448,
449, 450, 451, 457, 468, 461
— earls of, 310, 311, 312, 314, 315,
321, 332, 3.37, 346, 347, 357, 361,
362, 366, 379, 381, 386, 405, 408,
448, 510, 511
Devenish Island, 178, 179, 242
Diancecht, the leech-god, 139
Dicho, 145
Dingle, 288, 446
Dioceses formed, 239
Docwra, Sir Henry, 513, 514, 518,
539, 640, 543, 548
Donall, Steward of Mar, 218
— O'NeiU, King, 199
— son of Mac Mailnamo, 231
Donatus, 188
Donegal, 31, 111, 158, 375, 472
487
Donn of Knock fierna, 139
Donogh, chief of Hy Conaill, 191
— son of Brian Boru, 189, 197,
198, 210, 215, 216, 226, 229
Donovan, king of Hy Carbery, 202,
203, 204
Dornoch in Scotland, 183
Dowdall, Archbishop, 395
— Justice, 412, 416
Downpatrick, 149, 163, 233, 242,
272, 273, 275, 276, 294
Drake, John, 331
Dress, 118, 409
Drinan, near Swords, 212
Drogheda, 175, 342, 344, 368, 407,
489, 490
Drowes river, 60
Drumcliflf, 20, 274
Drumcondra near Dublin, 217, 477
Drumflugh, 490
Drumketta, 121, 151, 155
Drury, Sir William, 398, 428, 446,
447, 448
INDEX
555
Dnblin, 191, 192, 196, 198. 199,
206, 207, 213, 214, 215, 216, 226,
230, 233, 234, 239, 246, 251, 253,
256, 258, 259, 260, 262, 263, 266,
268, 274,286, 305, 311, 314, 315,
325, 328, 329, 330, 331, 337, 339,
343, 345, 350, 366, 367, 369, 370,
371, 380, 386, 409, 411, 432, 456,
478, 480, 494, 498, 541
Duftach, the poet, 41, 147, 173
Duke, Sir Henry, 479
Duleek, 173, 191
Dunamase, 313
Dunanore, 446, 447, 454, 456
Dunbolg, battle of, 152
Dunboy, part iv. chap, xv, ; and
pp. 523, 526, 527, 528, 532, 533,
537
Dunboyne, 371
Dundalk, 36, 192, 302, 306, 308,
404, 413, 417, 471, 484, 485, 493,
497, 546
Dundoonell, 254
Dundrum in Down, 356
Dungal, 188
Dangan, James, 100
Dungannon, 356, 471, 476, 478, 486,
539, 540
Dunnalong, 514, 518
Dunstan, St., 166
Durrow, 179, 242, 280
Dursey Island, 532
Duvgall's Bridge, 217, 220
Dympna or Domnat, St., 185
Dysart O'Dea, 305
EADFEID, bishop of Lindis-
fame, 164
Easter, time of, 169, 184
Edgecomb, Sir Edward, 345
Edward I., 244, 295, 298
— II., 300, 301, 307, 308
— III., 298, 308, 311, 313, 314,
316, 317, 321, 322
— IV., 341
— VI., 376, 394, 899
Eevin, the fairy queen, 140, 219
note, 223, 224
Eginhard, the chronicler, 27, 190
Elemental worship, 140
Elizabeth, Queen, 393, 396. 399,
403, 406, 408, ^10, 413, 422, 432,
433, 434, 462, 471, 480, 431, 485,
486, 504, 505, 506, 541
— the Brown Earl's daughter, 312,
317
EUagh in Donegal, 514
Ely, 229, 305
Emain or Emania, 36, 129, 133
Emly, 173, 174, 242, 283, 426
Enda, St., of Atan, 175, 176
Enniscorthy, 427
Enniskillen, 471, 479, 484
Eoghan, son of Niall of the Nine
Hostages, 401 Twte
Eoghan-Mor, 131, 203
Eolang, Finnbarr's tutor, 9
Ere, Bishop, 146, 177
Erenachs, 168 , "
Eric, a fine for injury, 53
Erne, the river, ^124, 407, 490, 491
Esker Biada, 131
Essex, first earl of, 440, 441, 442,
443, 444
— second earl of, part iv. chap. xii.
Eva, 248, 289
Evin, St., 23 -
EACHTNA, Stl, of Eosscarbery
in Cork, 179
Fairies or Shee, 139, 140, 148
Fasting on a defendant, 51
Faughanvale in Derry, 275
Faughart HiU, 174, 306, 310, 518,
519, 520
Felim Mac Criffan, 192
Ferdomnach thd Scribe, 21
Fergal, king of Ireland, 154
Fergil the Geometer, see Virgil
Fergus Mac Ere, 150, 151
— the poet, 41
Fermanagh, 11, 617
FertuUagh, 491,-'492
Ferns, 183, 186, 242, 249, 252, 253
Fes of Tara, 20, 44, 91, 92, 129,
130, 151
Fiacc, St., of Sleaty, 139, 172
Fiacre, St., 188
Fianna of Erin, 36, 38, 133
Fid-mic-Aengusa, 239
Finachta the festive, 153, 159, 186
556
HISTORY OP IRELAND
Kinan of Lindisfarne, 165, 166
Fingall, the district north of Dub-
lin to the river Delvin, 215
Finglas, 242, 260
Finn Mac Cumaill, 36, 37, 38, 133
Finnbarr, St., of Cork, 9, 183, 204
Finnen, St., of Clonard, 164, 175,
176, 178, 179, 180
— of Movilla, 19, 178,179
Finniterstown in Limerick, 501
Finnvara of Knockma, 139
Fintan, St., of Clonenagh, 180
— St., of Taghmon, 184
Firbolgs, the, 125, 126, 130
Fitton, Sir Edward, 428, 429, 430,
431, 433
Fitzgerald, James, 426, 427, 446,
447, 448
of Leixlip, 301, 366
Fitzmaurice the rebel, 423,
424, 425, 429, 430, 431, 439, 445,
446, 447, 448, 452
Fitzthomas the Sugan Earl,
498, 501, 505, 506, 509, 510, 512,
513, 522
— John, brother of the Sugan
Earl, 509, 510, 513
— John of Desmond, 422, 423,
424, 446, 447, 448, 456
— Maurice, 249, 252, 253, 256, 269
lord justice, 292, 293
— Sir Maurice of Decies, 420
— Raymond, see Raymond
— Thomas Roe, 497
— Silken Thomas, part iii. chap,
xviii. ; and p. 379
— Silken Thomas's five uncles, 374
— Walter Reagh, 482
Fitzgeralds, the, see Geraldines
Fitzhenry, Meyler, 252, 286
Fitzsimons, Walter,archbishop, 346
Fitzmaurice James, see Fitzgerald
Fitzstephen, Robert, 249, 251, 252,
253, 254, 256, 259, 260, 261, 269
Fitzwilliam, Sir William, 430, 441,
467, 471, 472, 474, 475, 479, 480
Flabertagh, Abbot, 196
Flaiths or nobles, 55, 59, 67, 161
Flann of Monasterboice, 27, 156,
160, 238
— Sinna, 195, 196, 197
Fleming, Richard, of Slane, 271
• Florentius, Bishop, 188
Foillan, St., 94, 184. 185
Fomorians, the, 124
Fontaines in France, 183
Fore in Westmeath, 194, 212
Fosterage, part i. chap. x. ; and pp.
161, 318, 333
Fothad of the Canon, 161, 190
Four Masters, the, 30
Foyle, the river, 514
Fridolin, St., 188
Fudir, 80, 110
Fursa, St., of Peronne, 94, 184
GALL or Gallus, St., of St. Gall
in Switzerland, 182
Galloglasses, 114
Galway, 111, 353, 354, 398, 428,
429, 432, 463, 464, 487, 489, 490,
502
Garry Castle, 356
Gavelkind, 68, 84, 544
Gavra, battle of, 133
Gelfine system, 69
Geraldines, the, 249, 269, 270, 294,
295, 339, 341, 344, 346, 347, 354,
359, 364, 367, 381, 382, 420, 453,
500, 501
Gertrude of Nivelle, 94, 185
Gheel in Belgium, 185, 186
Gilbert, Colonel, 427
Giraldus Cambrensis, 279
Glanageenty, near Tralee, 458
Glasnevin, 159, 164, 181, 182
Glenconkeine, 540
Glendalough, 163, 181, 191, 213,
242, 256
Glengaxriff, 533, 537
Glenmalure, 453, 454, 469, 470, 508
Glenmama, 207, 210, 211
Glenshesk, 416, 418
GUn, 450, 510
Gloucester, earl of, 329, 330
Gobinet. St., 534
Gormlaith, 208, 210, 211, 213, 214
Gossipred, 88, 318, 337
Gougane Barra, 183
Governors of Ireland, 263 note, 331,
382
Granard, 100
Gray, Nele, 408
INDEX
557
Grey, Lord, 483, 454, 455, 456,457
— Lady Elizabeth, 368, 374
— Lord Leonard, 372, 373, 374, 375,
378, 379, 380, 381, 382 .
HAO'S Castle, the, in Lough
Mask, 463
Hare Island in Longh Bee, 176
Harrington, Henry, 439, 440, 501
Harte, Captain, 548
Hartpool, Robert, 439
Henry I., 233
— XL, part iii. chap. iv. ; and pp.
246, 247, 248, 258, 261, 267, 268,
269, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282,
286, 298, 300, 301
— III., 285, 289, 290, 291, 292, 295
— IV., 330, 331
— v., 328, 333
— VI., 335
— VIL, 344, 345, 346, 347, 354
— VIII., 325, 354, 357, 361, 365,
366, 373, 377, 384, 386, 387, 390,
394, 436
Hodnet, Lord Philip, 310
Holy Island, 185, 192
Howard, Thomas, 356, 357, 358,360
Hugony the Great, 129
Hy NeiE, 20, 111. 134, 150, 154,
179, 193, 197, 208, 216, 227, 234
XARLATH, St., of Tuam in Gal-
way, 178, 181
Ibar, St., 173, 175
Idols, 137
Inangnration of Irish kings, 62
Inishmurray, 179, 242
Inish-Samer, 124
Inisloughlin Fort, 639
Inniscarra, near Cork, 177, 507, 508
Innishannon, 191, 526, 527
Innishowen, 232, 236, 275, 463
lona, 171, 179, 180, 186, 199, 242
Iiish enemies, 244, 325, 326
Isabel, daughter of Eva, 282
Isle of Man, 8, 134, 139, 213, 233,
236, 259
Ita. St., of KCleedy, 176
Ivar the Dane, 202, 203, 205
JAMES 1 , 298, 542, 543, 644
John, king of England, part
iii. chaps, vii. and ix. ; also pp.
251, 273, 276, 282, 284, 286, 289,-
309
John Scotns Erigena, 189
KAVANAGH, Art MacMurrogh,
part iii. chap. ziii.
— Donall, 252, 259, 260, 323
Kells in Kilkenny, 327
— in Heath, 19, 179, 239, 247, 242,
271, 303
Kennfaela the Learned, 6, 46
Kenn-Fuat, 197
Kern, 115
Kerry, 111, 184, 310, 316, 431, 452,
638
— Knights of, 270
Kevin, St., of Glendalough, 181
Kilbarron in Donegal, 30
Kilbennan, 172
Kilbreedy, Kilbride, 176
KUbrittain, 376
Kilcolman Castle, 462
Kildare, 105, 173, 174, 245, 264,
269, 323, 332, 340, 350, 372,374,
399
— earls of, part iii. chaps, xvi.
xvii. ; also pp. 314, 315, 321, 344,
345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 352, 3H8,
369, 370, 374, 375, 376, 382, 405,
408, 409, 416, 449, 453, 456, 489,
490
Kilfeacle in Tipperary, 283
Kilian, St., of Franconia, 188
Kilkenny, 180, 293, 311, 314, 315,
323, 328, 366, 371, 398, 427, 428,
515, 522, 542
Killaloe, 212, 283
KiUamey, 190, 355
Killeedy, 176, 177, 242
Killeigh, 242, 338
Killineer, battle of, 195, 206
Killodonnell, 406
Kilmacdnagh, 275
Kilmacrenan, 548
Kilmainham, 213, 215, 216, 217,
226, 332
Kilmallock, 114, 385, 422, 429, 431,
445, 448, 600, 501, 511, 512
658
HISTORY OF IRELAND
Kilmashoge, battle of, 197
Kilineedy, 177
Kilquegg near Kilmallock, 457
Kiltaroe, or Kedwood, 635
Kilteely, 500
Kincora, 200, 208, 211, 213, 214,
230,231,232,234
Kinel Connell, ia3, 294, 360, 401
note, 472
— Owen, 212, 360, 401 note
King's County, 436
Kings with opposition, 228
Kinsale, part iv. chap. xiv. ; and
pp. 276, 336, 345, 539
Knighthood, 325
Knockavoe Hill, 359, 360, 402
Knockdoe, battle of, 353, 354
Knockfierna, 139
Knockgraffon, in Tipperary, 283
Knockma, in Galway, 139
Knockmoy Abbey, 114, 285
Knockvicar, 536, 537
Kylemore Wood, 447, 451
LAEGHAIRE, 41, 119, 140, 145,
146, 147
Laiten, 222, 223, 224
Lambay Island, 1 79, 190
Lancaster, duke of, 331, 332
Lanesborough, 277
Lanfranc, Archbishop, 230
Larne, 251, 302
Law, English, in Ireland, 296, 300,
350, 432, 543
Lawrence, archbishop of Canter-
bury, 170
Leap, in King's County, 355, 356
Lecale, 145
Leighlin, 184
— Bridge, 439
Leitrim Castle, SST
Leix, 69, 399, 435, 436, 437, 439,
514, 515, 516, 517
Le Poer, Robert, 277
Leth Conn and Leth Mow, 7, 131,
171, 207, 208, 238, 239
Letterkenny, 294
Letterluin, battle of, 237
Leverous, Thomas, bishop, 374
Lewy, King, 150
Lifford, 442, 518
Limerick, 191, 192, 196, 202, 203,
231, 232, 251, 267, 268,278, 281,
283, 302, 305, 343, 354, 385, 427,
428, 432, 452, 460, 500, 512, 542
Lindisfame, 165, 166, 171
Lionel, duke of Clarence, 317, 318,
336
Liscarroll, 534
Lismore, 163, 184, 188, 191, 229,
234, 235, 237, 262, 265, 280, 501
Lof tus. Archbishop, 457, 459, 460
Logore, in Meath, 153
Londonderry, see Deny
Lome, son of Ere, 150, 151
Lorrha in Tipperary, 161, 193
Lough Corrib, 185
— Derg, 193, 201
— Foyle, 195, 196, 499, 613
— Neagh, 192, 231
— Ree, 192, 206, 276
— Sewdy, or Sunderlin, 303, 304
— Veagh, 293
Louth, 61, 174, 242, 273, 307, 313,
336, 339, 351, 366, 407
Lucy, Sir Anthony, 311, 312, 313
Luzeoil, in France, 182
MAO ART, Cormac, see Cormac
Mac Art
Mac Carroll, the harper, 95, 103,
310
Mac Carthy, Cormac, king, 112
— Cormac Oge, 357
— Dermot, 261, 265, 268 ^
— Lady Eleanor, 375, 376
— Reagh, 357
Mac Carthys, the, 119, 203, 294,
354, 513, 534
Mac Colgan, Aed, 154
Mac Cossfe, 120, 156, 160, 225
Mac Criffan, Hugh, 15
Mac Donnell, Angus, 416
— James, 406, 416
— Dr. James, 100
— Sorley Boy, 406, 416, 418, 441,
442, 444, 460, 461
Mac Donnells of Antrim, the, 355,
359,401,415,496,496
Mac Dunlevy, 237, 272, 273
MacEgans, the, 15, 158, 339, 536
Ma£ Firbises, 4, 6, 16, 29, 33
INDEX
5Z9
Mac Geoghegan, Richard, 529, 530,
o31
Mac Gilla Patrick, Donogb, 91
, of Ossory, 91, 226, 227, 252,
253, 439
Mac Gorman, Finn, bishop, 14
Macha of the Golden Hair, 129
Mac Liag, the poet, 221 Twte
Mac Mahon, Brian, 524
— Hugh, 475
Mac Mailnamo, Dermot, 229, 230
Mac Moyres, the, 22
Mac Murrogh, Dermot, part iii.
chap. i. ; and pp. 15, 235, 251,
252, 253, 255, 266, 257, 258,282,
482
— of Idrone, 384
Mac Murroghs, the, 298, 316
Mac t)weeny of Rathmnllan, 466
Mac Sweeny-na-Doe, 475
Mac Turkill, Hasculf, 246, 254, 256,
258, 259
Mac William, Eighter and Oughter,
313
Maengal, or Marcellos, 94
Magennis of Iveagh, 348, 356
Magh Adhair, 206
Magnas, king of Norway, 233
Magaire, Cabal, the annalist, 29
Magnire of Fermanagh, 412, 416,
471, 478, 479, 495, 496, 507
Mahon, king of Munster, 200-205
Mailmora, king of Leinster, 207,
208, 210, 211, 212, 213, 215, 216
Mailmurri Mac Kelleher, 14
Maikuan, St., 161, 187, 188
Maive, Queen, 36, 130
Malachi I., 194, 195
— II., 66, 199, 206, 207, 208, 210,
212, 216, 220, 221 mte, 227, 228,
229
Malbie, Captain Henry, 635, 536
— Sir Henry, 398
— Sir Nicholas, 426, 433, 448, 449,
460
Mallow, 497, 500
Mannanan Mac Lit, 139
Margaret, wife of O'Conor, 338
— Lady, O'Conor Donn's wife, 509
Marianas Scotus, 238
Marisco, Geoffrey, 292, 293
Markham. Sir Griffin, 503
Marshals, the, 282, 285, 289, 2M,
291, 292
Mary, Queen, 376, 395, 396, 399,
4U3, 434, 436
Maryborough or Port Leiz, 436,
494
Maud, widow of earl of Ulster,
314, 315
Maupas, Sir John, 307
Maynooth, 371, 372, 381, 545
Mayo, earls of, 270, 312
Meath (anciently including the
counties of Meath and West-
meath, with parts of the adjacent
counties), 61, 130, 134, 193, 208,
212, 216, 229, 231, 246, 257,263,
278, 280, 285, 288, 289, 290, 303,
336, 340, 346, 350, 372, 380, 407
Mel, St., 173
MelUfont, 246, 471, 541
Mensal land, 66, 71
Milcho, 143, 145 ^
Milesians, the, 127,' 130, 140 '.
MiUs, 118 -
Mitchelstown Cave, 613
Moanmore, battle of, 235, 245
Mochta, or Mocteus, St., 174
Moira, or Moyrath, 38, 153, 540
Molaissi, St., of Devenish, 176, 178
of Inishmurray, 179
of Leighlin, 184
Molana, or Darinish, 179
Moling, St., 153, 186
MoUoy, king of Desmond, 202-
206
Monabraher near I^erick, 355
Monaghan, 365, 475, 483
Monasteranenagh, 114, 449
Monasterboice, 27, 163, 164, 187,
238
Monasteries, suppression of, 378,
895
Monasteroris, 357
Montague, Captain, 495, 497
Montgomery, bishop of Derry, 545
Moore, Colonel John, 453
— Sir Garrett, 471, 541, 545, 546
T-r Thomas, the poet, 101
Morris, Sir John, 313, 314
Mortimer, Sir Roger, 303
earl of Marc^, 327
Mountjoy, Lord, part iv. chap.
660
HISTORY OF IRELAND
xiii. ; also pp. 606, 522, 524, 525,
626, 627, 638, 539, 540, 541, 542,
543, 545
Mountmaurice, Hervey, 251, 252,
255, 261, 265, 266, 267
Mountnorris, 619
Mountsandal, 275
Moume Abbey or Ballinamnna, 357
Movi or Mobhj, St., 169, 176, 179,
180, 181
Movilla in Down, 178, 191, 242
Mowbray, Earl, 324, 325
Moydrum Hill, 522
Moy-Elta, 124
Moylena, 38, 131, 170, 196
Moyry Pass, 484, 614, 519
Moy-Slecht, 129, 141, 147
Moytura, South and North, 126,127
MuUamast, 437
MuUingar, 489, 491, 492
Muredach, king, 133
Murkertagh of the Leather Cloaks,
197, 198, 199, 209
Murrogh, Brian Bora's son, 66, 206,
207, 211, 213, 216, 217, 218, 219,
221 mte, 223
Marthemne, 61
NAAS, the royal palace of, 148,
439
Narraghmore, 323, 326, 328, 331
Natalis, St., 177
Nathi, a chief, 142, 146
Navan, 230
— Fort or Ring, the, 36
Nemed and the Nemedians, 124
Nenni, St., 176
Nennio, St., 178
New English (see Old)
— Ross, 332
Newry, 273, 480, 484, 486, 493, 514
Niall Glunduff, king, 119, 196, 197
Niall of the Nine Hostages, 133,
134, 136, 143, 179
Nobber in Meath, 96
Norris, Sir Henry, 501
— Sir John, 443, 483, 484, 485, 486,
487, 489
— Sir Thomas, 460, 483, 484, 498,
500, 509
Northumbria, 166
Nuala, Red Hugh's sister, 618 note,
546
Nugent, 509
— baron of Delvin, 361, 363, 364,
456, 546
— Lord, 466
OATH, the ancient Pagan, 130,
136, 140
O'Brien, Docall, king of Thomond,
in time of Henry II., 264, 262,
266, 267, 268, 274, 280, 282, 283,
286
— of Thomond, 235, 236, 294, 295
304, 325, 355, 371, 372, 373, 374,
376, 379, 381, 386 (see Tho-
mond, earl of)
— Brian Roe, 295, 296 ,
— Conor of the Fortress, 235
— Donogh, the betrayer of
O'Brien's Bridge, 379, 405
— Donogh Beg, 460
— Murkertagh, King, 230, 231, 232,
233, 234, 238, 239
— Murrogh, baron of Inchiquin,
490
— Turlogh, king of Ireland, 229,
230, 233
O'Brien's Bridge, 379, 380
O'Briens, the, 203, 233, 234, 235,
298, 305, 318, 343, 385, 386, 406,
463
O' Byrne, Felim, 501, 619
— Fiach Mac Hugh, 452, 453, 469,
470, 482, 488, 489
his wife, 482
O'Bymes, the, 286, 287, 304, 331
501, 519
O'Cahan, 63, 96, 478, 515
O'Caharney or Fox, 281
Ocampo, Don Alfonso, 623, 626
O'Carroll of Oriell, 237
O'Carrolls of Ely, 305, 324, 332,
356, 357
O'Cassidy, 17, 29
Ocha, battle of, 150
O'Clerys, the, 16, 30, 31, 158
O'Coffeys, the, 158
O'Connellan the harper, 96
O'Conor, king of Connaught, 231,
290, 291, 295, 303, 304, 325, 37fi
INDEX
561
O'Conor Donn, Dermot, 509, 510
— Hugh, son of Cahal Crovderg,
290, 291
— Kerry, 610, 522
— Morrogh, son of King Roderick,
277
— Owney, 492
— Roderick, king of Ireland, 128,
237, 245, 253, 254, 257, 259, 260,
262, 266, 267, 277, 278, 281, 282,
283, 290
— Sligo, 501, 502, 604
— Turlogh, king of Ireland, 107,
234, 236, 236, 245
O'Conors of Gonnaught, the, 234,
291 298
— of 'ofiEaly. 324, 357, 361, 363,
364, 365, 371, 373, 376, 380, 384,
385, 399, 405, 435, 436, 439
O'Dempseys, the, 264, 372
O'Doherty, Sir Cahir, 547, 548
— Sir John, 475
O'Donnell, Calvagh, 402, 403, 406,
408, 412, 417
— Cathbarr, 546
— Conn, son of Calvagh, 441
— Godfrey, 293, 294
— Sir Hugh, 402, 417, 465, 466,
472, 478
— Hugh Roe, part iv. chap. viii. ;
also pp. 31, 478, 479. 484, 485,
486, 487, 489, 491, 495, 496, 499,
502, 503, 504, 505, 513, 514, 516,
521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527,
528, 533
— Niall Garve, 502, 517, 618, 542,
543, 546, 548
— Rory, earl of Tirconnell, part iv.
chap. xvii. ; and p. 526
O'Donnells, the, 14, 20, 30, 352,
354, 358, 359, 360, 365, 372, 401,
402, 465, 467
O'Doran, the brehon, 332
O'Dowda, 236
O'Duffy, Muredach, archbishop,
107
OTaelan, of the Decies, 216, 254
OflEaly, a territory comprising parts
of Kildare, Queen's County, and
King's County, 264, 265, 269,
364,399,435,436,437,492
O'Flynn, Cumee, 273
O'Gallagher, Su: John, 475
OGara, Fergall, 31
Ogham, 7, 8, 9, 10
O'Hagan, Turlogh, 470, 471
O'Hagans, the, 63
O'Haly, Dr. Patrick, 446
O'Hanlon, 313, 334, 348
O'Hartigan, Dunlang, 219 Tiote
O'Hechan, Mailisa Mac Braddan,
107 V
O'Hoolahan, Dermot, 535
O'Hurly, Dermot, archbishop, 419,
460
O'Hyne of Connaught, 216
Gisin or Ossian, 38
G'KeUy, 216, 221 note, 353
Olcovar, king of Munster, 194
Old and New English, 279, 309,
314, 316, 317, 318
OUoU Molt, king, 150
— Olum, king, 203
Ollamh Fodla, 91, 129
Ollaves, 156, 157, 161
O'Loghlin, Donall, king, 231, 232,
233, 234, 237, 246
O'Melaghlin, king of Meath, 230,
231,245,298
O'Meyey, 280
O'Moore, Owney, son of Rory Oge,
494, 497, 500, 514, 615, 5 1 6, 517
— Rory Oge, 438, 439, 440
O'Moores of Leix, the, 304, 313,
334, 355, 357, 371, 372, 386, 399,
435, 436, 438, 453, 501
O'Morgair, Malachy, archbishop,
238, 239, 247
O'Moriarty, Donall, 458
O'Mulconrys. the, 30, 31, 158
O'Muldory, Flaherty, 274, 276
O'Neill, Art, son of Shane, 468,
469, 470, 471
— Art. brother of earl Hugh, 483
— Sir Art, 517, 518
— Conn, 351, 352, 353
— Conn Bacach, first earl of
Tyrone, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360,
361, 365, 366, 371, 372, 375, 376,
380, 384, 386, 387, 400, 401, 403,
473 i
— Cormac, 479
— Henry, son of Shane, 468, 471
— Henry, eon of Hugh, 547
O O
562
HISTOKY OF IRELAND
O'Neill, Hugh, earl of Tyrone, part
iv. chaps, ix. x. xi. xvii. ; and
pp. 233, 465, 470, 471, 473, 499,
500, 501, 604, 505, 506, 507, 508,
513, 614, 515, 516, 517, 519, 520,
521, 522, 524, 625
— Hugh Gaveloch, 476
— Matthew, baron of Dungannon,
387, 400, 401, 402, 403
— Matthew's eldest son, baron of
Dungannon, 404, 406, 411, 473
— iShane an Diomais, or John the
Proud, part Iv. chap. iii. ; and
pp. 424, 465, 472, 474
— Turlogh Lynnagh, 411, 412, 432,
441, 472, 473, 474, 477, 486
O'NeiUs, the, 63, 119, 212, 234, 262,
275, 283, 284, 289, 290, 293, 294,
298, 325, 334, 352, 358, 401, 439,
441, 442, 465
O'Reilly, Mailmora, 497
O'Keillys, the, 355, 356, 386, 406
Oriell, a territory comprising the
COS. of Monaghan, Armagh, and
Louth, 149, 176, 273
Orkney Islands, 213, 258
Ormond, earls of, 270, 321, 324,
.S32, 337, 341, 356, 357, 358, 3fiO,
3t>l, 364, 365, 371, 372, 377, 379,
385, 386, 408, 421, 449,450,451,
452, 454, 462, 485, 493, 494, 498,
515,516
Ormonds, see Butlers
O'Kuarc, Brian Oge, 502. 503
— Teman, 245, 246, 264
— of Brefney, 212, 475, 478, 646
Ospak the Viking, 213, 214
Ossory, a sub-kingdom, comprising
nearly the whole of the co. Kil-
kenny and the S.W. half of
Queen's County, 175, 180, 213,
226, 229, 252, 253, 268, 516
O'Sullivan, Dermot, 537 and note
— Beare, Donall, part iv. chap,
xvi.; and pp. 522, 525, 528,
529
Philip, 637, note
Oswald, king of Northumbria, 166
O'Toole, Phelim, 468, 470
_ St. Laurence, 247, 256, 259,
268, 278
— chief of Imail, 356, 384, 385
I O'Tooles, the, 286, 287, 304, 816,
355, 356, 452, 501
Owenaghts or Eugenians, the, 190,
192, 203
PAGAN religion of Ireland before
St. Patrick, 137
Palatine counties, 310, 311
Pale, the, 316, 317, 318, 333, 336,
337, 338, 339, 340, 342, 346, 351,
363, 364, 366, 369, 370, 374, 379,
398, 417, 433, 456, 464
Palladius, 142, 144
Paparo, Cardinal, 289, 247
Parliament, the Irish, 337, 842,
348, 349, 350, 378, 386, 423, 424,
461
Parthalonians, the, 123
Pass of the Plumes, 500
Patrick, St., part ii. chap. iii. ;
and pp. 11, 12, 18, 21, 41, 81,
108, 112, 118, 135, 140, 163, 167,
170, 171, 172, 173, 238
Paulett, Sir George, 548
Pelagius, 11
Pelham, Sir Edward, 543
— Sir WiUiam, 449, 450, 451, 452,
454, 456, 457
Percy, Colonel, 495
Peronne, 184, 185
Perrott, Sir John, 430, 431, 460,
462, 463, 465, 466, 467, 473, 628
Philip, king of Spain, 445, 487,
621, 626, 527, 528, 532, 683, 547
— of Worcester, 278
Philipstown, 436
Phoeniciaiiis, the, 136
Picts, the, 132, 134, 180
— and Scots, 134
Pierce, Captain, 418
Pilltown, 341
Plantations, the, part iv. chaps.
V. vii.; and pp. 326, 327, 426,
547
Piatt the Dane, 218
Pole, Cardinal, 376
Pope, the, 187, 300, 301, 371, 377,
378, 388, 396, 397, 427, 432, 445,
459, 547 (see Adrian)
Portland in Tipperary, 535
Portmore fort, 474, 483, 484, 485,
INDEX
663
486, 489, 490, 492, 493, 494, 495,
497, 520
Poynings, Sir Edward, and Poy-
nings' Law, part iii. chap. xv. ;
and pp. 348, 849, 350, 353
Prendergast, Maurice, 251, 252
Presidents, provincial, 428
Proctors, spiritual, 378
Provinces of Ireland, 60, 61, 125
PurceU, David, 455, 456
QUEEN'S COUNTY and King's
County, 486
Quin in Clare, 114, 460
RAHAN near Tullamore, 184,
286
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 455, 462
Randolph, Colonel, 417
Banelagh in Wicklow, 501
Raphoe, 186
Ratclifif, Sir Alexander, 503
Rathangan in Kildare, 338
Rathbrassil, 239
Rathcore in Meath, 190
Rathcroghan, 37, see Croghan
RathUn Island, 301, 401, 440, 442,
443, 444, 483
Rathmullan in Donegal, 466, 546
Ratisbon, 238
Raymond le Gros, part iii. chap. v. ;
and pp. 254, 255, 256
Rebellions, 389
Red Branch knights, 36, 38, 129
Redwood or Kiltaroe, 535
Revenue, Irish, 383, 433
Riada, Carbery, 132
Richard I., 282, 286
— XL, 322, 323, 324, 325, 826, 327,
328, 329, 330, 831, 339
— m., 344, 346
Rindown castle, 276, 313
Roads, 117
Roches, the, 310, 450
Rodan, St., of Lorrha, 176
Rome, 144 note, 169, 184, 195,
213 note, 229, 376, 547
Roscommon, 28, 277, 296, 313, 355,
502
Eoscrea, 193
Rosscarbery, 1 66, 160, 163, 179, 242
Round Towers, 112
Russell, Sk William, 480, 481, 482,
484, 485, 486, 489
SAINT DAVID'S in Wales, 183,
249
— Gall in Switzerland, 94, 182, 183
— Laurence, Christopher, 545, 546
— Laurences, the, 344
— Mullins in Carlow, 186, 191
Salzburg, 187
Sanctuaries or Maigens, 92
Sanders, Dr., 446, 449, 457
Saul in Down, 145, 149
Savages, the, 310
Saxulph, Earl, 193
Scattery Island, 163, 177, 178, 196,
203, 205, 242, 456
Scots or Redshanks of Antrim, 401,
406, 414, 415, 416, 418, 431, 441,
442, 463, 478
Scroop, Sir Stephen, 332
Sechingen on the Rhine, 188
Sedulius, 188
Segrave, an oflBcer, 483, 484
Seirkieran, L75, 242
Senan, St., 165, 176, 177
Senchus Mor, the, 41, 42, 172
Sentleger, Sir Anthony, 384, 385,
394, 399
— Sir Warham, 507
Seven Churches, 112, 176, 180, 181
Shanachy, a historian, 32, 35, 137
Shanid in Limerick, 191, 450
Shannon harbour, 236, 622
Shrines, 18
Shrule, 429
Sigurd, earl of Orkney, 213, 214,
215, 216, 218, 219, 225
Simancas in Spain, 527
Simnel, Lambert, 344, 345, 346
Singland near Limerick, 203
Sinnell, St., of Cleenish, 176
Sitric, king of Dublin, 199, 208,
210, 212, 213, 215, 216.218, 221,
226
Skeffington, Sir William, 364, 371
372 374 377
Slane! 146,' 191, 242, 271, 546
564
HISTORY OF LRELAOT)
Slavery, 79
Sleaty, 173
Slemish Mountain, 143
Slieve Bloom Mountains, 296
— Roe near Dublin, 468
Sligo, 114, 359, 360, 484, 502, 526
Smerwick, 446, 454
Smith, his attempt to poison Shane
O'Neill, 414
— Sir Thomas, 440
Smorth the Dane, 266
Spancel Hill, 406
Spenser, Edmund, 6, 39, 54, 63, 82,
88, 114, 115, 116, 459, 462, 516
Statute of Kilkenny, part iii.
chap. zii. ; and pp. 323, 333, 334,
342, 349
StiUcho, 136
Strasburg, 188
Strongbow, part iii. chap. iii.
and pp. 248, 251, 252, 254, 263,
264, 265, 266, 267, 268
Stukely, Thomas, 412, 416, 446
Sulcoit, battle of, 202, 203, 205
Supremacy, oath of, 378, 379, 387
Surnames, 118, 342
Sussex, earl of, 382, 392, 404, 405,
406, 407, 408, 409, 412, 413, 414,
420, 436, 437
Swilly. the river, 294, 417
Swords near Dublin, 179, 191
Sydney, Sir Henry, 404, 416, 417,
419, 421, 422, 423, 424, 426, 427,
428, 429, 430, 432, 433,434,438,
439
Synods, 45, 238, 239, 247, 248, 257,
262
TAGHMON in the cotinty Wex-
ford, 191
Tailltenn, nowTeltown, 89, 90, 91,
128, 130, 147, 236, 237
Talbot, Sir John, 333, 334, 335, 339
TaUaght, 25, 124, 187, 188
Tanistry, 61, 84, 544
Tara, 19, 20, 45, 53, 107, 117, 130,
132, 138, 145, 146, 147,151, 152,
164, 186, 199, 208, 381
Tarentum in Italy, 188
Taylor, Thomas, 529, 531
Tedavn et in Monaghan, 185, 186
Termon Lands, 92
Terryglass in Tipperary, 176, 192
Thomond, 61, 203, 204, 205, 206,
234, 278, 283, 324, 364, 374, 406,
421
— earl of, 324, 347, 387, 405, 408,
429, 616, 617, 522, 630
Thurles, 266, 286
Tibberaghney, 280
Tighemach, 28, 129, 227, 238
Ticrhemmas, King, 128, 141
Timolin in Kildare, 186, 242
Tipperary, 231, 310, 343, 535
Tiptoft, John, 343, 344, 385
Tirconnell, a territory including
nearly the whole of the present
county Donegal (see Tyrone),
236, 275, 293, 294, 358, 359, 402,
407, 416, 417, 465, 517
Tirechan, Bishop, 21, 144 note
Tithes, 168, 240
Tlachtga, 89, 130, 264
Tolka, the river, 159, 217, 223
Tomar the Dane, 194, 206
Toraar's Wood, 217, 220, 223
Tomregan, schools of, 158
Tory Island, 124, 125, 179, 209
Tralee, 447, 450
Trim, 371
Trimblestone, Lord, 489
Trinity College, Dublin, 481
Tuam, 107, 178, 289, 277
Tuathal the Legitimate, 61, 89, 130,
131
Tullaghogue, 638, 540
Turgesius, 191, 192, 194
Turlogh O'Brien, 215, 222
Turner, sergeant-major, 490
Tyrone, a sub-kingdom comprising
the present counties of Tyrone
and Derry, and the two baronies
of Inishowen and Raphoe in
Donegal, 209, 359, 407,417,473,
476, 486, 513, 538, 539, 540
Tyrrell, Captain, 491, 492, 494, 497,
525, 530, 632, 533
Tyrrell's Pass, 492
TTFFORD, Sir Ralph, 314, 316,
U 316
1 Ulidia, the territory lying east of
INDEX
565
the Lower Bann, Lough Neagh,
and the Newry river, 149, 178,
232, 272, 273
Ultan, St., 21, 25, 94, 144 note,
184, 185
Uniformity, Act of, 396, 398
Ushnagh, mU of. 60, 61, 89, 130
VALEYBLA.S, 'corse choosers,*
225
ValladoUd, 628
Vaughan, Sir Francis, 490
Vir^ or Virgilius, the Geometer,
187
Vivian, Cardinal, 272
WALKER ('One Walker an
Englishman') 520
Wallop, Sir Henry, 457, 460, 485
Walsh, John, the spy, 458
Walsingham, the English minister,
460
Walter, Theobald, 270
War of Kildare, 291
Meath, 290
— cries, 349 note
Warbeck, Perkin, 346, 347, 348, 350
Waterford, 191, 196, 248, 251,252,
254, 255, 256, 260, 261, 262, 265,
266, 279, 324, 328, 336, 341, 345,
860, 449, 450, 601, 506, 542
Wexford, 89, 183, 249, 251, 252,
254, 259, 260, 262, 263,266,269,
323, 325, 331, 332, 336, 542
Whitby, conference of, 171
White Kn%ht, the, 513
Wicklow, 128, 142, 144, 207, 328,
453, 482, 601, 519
William Rufns, 232
Williams, Captain, 490, 492, 493,
494, 497, 520
Wihnot, Sir Charles, 622, 530,
532 7U)te, 533, 537, 538
Windsor, treaty of, 267, 272, 277,
281
Wingfield, Marshal, 548
— Sir Thomas, 495
Winter, Admiral, 454
Wolsey, Cardinal, 356, 357, 361,
362, 363, 364, 365
Wurtzburg, 188
YELLOW plague, 151^ 153, 165,
176, 182
York, duke of, 326, 336, 337, 338,
340, 344, 346
Youghal, 293, 336, 342, '450, 451,
462
ZOnCH, governor of Monster,
456
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